My Season 5
by webhead112233
Summary: The off season is hell. So, if you let me, i'd like to try to make it slightly more bearable. This story is my own version of MLP FIM season five. I'll try to keep the stories as close to show quality as possible. If you want to tell me your ideas or tell me I suck, feel free to share your ideas or troll just the same as you would with the show. Praise or flame, any comment is good
1. episode 1

**My season 5**

**Episode 1: Prince Charmless**

"Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!" Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly around the train car. "Settle down Pinkie." Twilight told her. "How can I settle down? I'm so excited!" Pinkie exclaimed.  
>"Well don't ya go gettin to excited. You remember the last time we went to the Grand Galloping Gala." Applejack reminded Pinkie. "I know, I know, but come on! Don't tell me you're all not excited!" Pinkie proclaimed.<br>"She does have a point. After all, an event like the Grand Galloping Gala isn't likely to go sour twice in a row," Rarity agreed, "So long as I don't run into that brute, Prince Blueblood." A look of disgust crossed Rarity's face.  
>"Yeah, from what you told us, that guy was a real jerk." Rainbow Dash said. "A big meanie!" Pinkie added on. "I agree, he was rather rotten." Prince Blueblood said from the train car's door. Everyone turned to face Blueblood, who was grinning wickedly.<br>"Wow," Pinkie Pie said, waving her hoof around in the air, "I think I can actually feel the awkward." "What are you doing here?" Rarity questioned.  
>"The same as you, I'm on my way to the Gala. I got on at the last stop, but only found out you all were here a few moments ago." Blueblood said. "Well, if you wouldn't mind, I'd prefer if you left us alone." Rarity said.<br>"Certainly, but before I go I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my ghastly behavior at last year's Gala. I truly don't know what got into me. Maybe it was the party or all the sinfully boring Canterlot ponies, but that's hardly an excuse." Blueblood said.  
>Rarity's jaw dropped, caught completely off guard. Blueblood turned to leave the train car, but before he could, the entire train shook violently.<br>The whole of the train car's occupants were thrown to one side. All except Rarity, who was caught by a magic aura before hitting the wall.  
>"Are you alright?" Blueblood asked. "I, um, yes." Rarity answered hesitantly. "What in the hay was that?" Applejack wondered aloud. "Only one way to find out," Rainbow dash proclaimed, flying toward the front of the train car, "Come on!" "Um, do we have to?" Fluttershy asked, quietly.<p>

The train had come to a stop on the tracks. "Not sure what is was," the train conductor said, "Something just ran right across the tracks."  
>"What do you think it was?" Twilight asked. "Don't rightly know. It was moving too fast for me to see," He said, "Whatever it was, it's gone now. If we get going now we can still make it to the Gala on time."<br>All the ponies got back on the train, unaware of the glowing yellow eyes watching them from the shadows.

It was just after eight o' clock when they all arrived at the gala. Rarity was about to step out of the carriage only to stop when she spied a muddy puddle where she was going to step.  
>"Allow me." Rarity turned her head to see Prince Blueblood levitating a cloth to cover the puddle. "Um, well, thank you." Rarity said. "I can understand if you don't want to see me, but I would like to spend some time with you." Blueblood told her.<br>"If you're asking me to be your date, then I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Rarity said sternly. "Well then, perhaps you'd be willing to discuss a possible business venture. I'm told you have a store in Ponyville by the name of Carousel Boutique. I was thinking that I might be able to help spread word of your business. We could discuss this more; say over dinner at the Gala?" Blueblood offered.  
>"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt." Rarity said giving in.<p>

Twilight hadn't even made it into the Gala when a guard appeared, "Princess Celestia has requested you're your highness's audience immediately." The guard told her.  
>"What? Why?" Twilight asked. "I do not know. I was only told that it was a matter of dire circumstance." He said.<br>"Oh, what now?" Twilight asked herself as she followed the guard.

"Hello Twilight." Princess Celestia welcomed. Both she and Princess Luna seemed very worried. "Hello princess. What's this 'matter of dire circumstance'?" Twilight asked.  
>"A book filled with incredibly dangerous magic was stolen from the royal library. This book has caused a great deal of disaster over the ages and, in hindsight, I should have destroyed it long ago." Celestia said.<br>"How dangerous is this book?" Twilight asked. "This book is quite possible the most dangerous item in all Equestria." Celestia answered. "Oh my. Who do you think took it?"  
>"I don't know, but it is vital that we find out as soon as possible. This book corrupts the reader with powerful dark magic, and the last time it was read, I had to do something I'll never be able to forgive myself for." Celestia said, leaving to give orders to the royal guard. "What did you have to do?" Twilight called after her.<br>"She had to banish me to the moon." Luna said.

"You alright Pinkie? Ya look a might nervous." Applejack asked Pinkie Pie, who was turning her head quickly, as though trying to watch all directions at once.  
>"I'm not sure, but something's wrong." Pinkie told Applejack, lifting her hat and inspecting the inside as she was expecting something to be hiding in it. "What is it? Is the Pinkie Sense acting up?" Applejack asked, worried.<br>"I don't know, but I think it might be bad." Pinkie said. "Calm down Pinkie. The royal guard is watching everything to make sure everpony's safe. Nothing could get passed them." Rainbow Dash assured her.  
>"'Cept fer a rampagin Fluttershy." Applejack pointed out, looking over at by the food table. They all remembered what had happened to her at last year's Gala.<br>"Yeah well, there are also three alicorns here," Rainbow Dash reminded them, "Nothing could go wro-hmpg!" Rainbow's sentence was interrupted by Pinkie Pie jamming her hoof into her mouth.  
>"Shhhh! Everypony knows you're not supposed to say that! Especially here!" Pinkie said, checking underneath Rainbow's wings. "Relax. Look, even Rarity's over what happened before." Rainbow Dash pointed to Rarity who was dancing with Prince Blueblood.<br>"See? Everything's fine. Why don't you go talk to Fluttershy, I don't think she's having such an easy time forgetting." Rainbow Dash told her. Pinkie stopped her looking and turned to Fluttershy.  
>"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said, bouncing off. "You seem real calm about everything." Applejack said. "Why wouldn't I be? We're at the best party in Equestria and everything that could ruin it like last time is taken care off. Hey, have seen Twilight anywhere." Rainbow Dash asked.<br>"No, now that you mention it, I haven't seen her since we got here. Hope she's okay."

"I must say Blueblood, you've been acting a complete gentlecolt." Rarity said. "As I said before, I don't know what came over me at the last Gala." Blueblood said, looking at the clock on the wall.  
>"Blueblood, why do you keep checking the time?" Rarity asked. "Hmmm?" "You've been checking the clock every few minutes." Rarity said.<br>"Have I? My apologies, it's simply a bad habit of mine." Blueblood told her. Rarity was slightly skeptical, but she brushed it off.

"Twilight, where've ya been?" Applejack asked the approaching alicorn. "I've been helping the princesses search the castle." Twilight answered. "What for?" Rainbow Dash asked.  
>"A book of dangerous magic was stolen." "What? That can't be good." Applejack said.<br>"From what I've heard, it's terrible." Applejack began to fidget nervously. "Pinkie said she thought she felt somethin' bad coming," Applejack told Twilight, "Do you think Pinkie could help you find it?"  
>"It's worth a try." Twilight said.<p>

"Pinkie Pie! We've got a problem." Twilight called. Pinkie looked up and darted from the table, dragging Fluttershy with her. "I knew it!" Pinkie exclaimed.  
>"A problem? Oh my." Fluttershy had been hoping Pinkie had been wrong. "Do you think you could lead us to it?" Twilight asked.<br>Pinkie's legs twitched, her eyes crossed momentarily, and her whole body shook before spinning in place. She stopped with one hoof outstretched, pointing. "That way!" Pinkie shouted.  
>Pinkie Pie led them through the ball room and across the dance floor. Pinkie's body shook again and went rigid. "There!" Pinkie pointed again.<br>Rainbow Dash flew forward immediately, only to stop when she saw she was on a collision course with Prince Blueblood and Rarity.  
>"What's going on?" Rainbow wondered aloud. "Oh hello girls, is there a problem?" Rarity asked as she saw all her friends approaching. "Well, yes actually. We've been tracking a potentially dangerous magical artifact and were led here." Twilight explained.<br>"Oh my, well if you're in need of any assistance I would be glad to help." Blueblood said. Pinkie Pie's body wobbled and her legs shot forward, landing her directly in front of Blueblood. Pinkie looked up at him, blinked, and pointed, "There!"  
>"What? I assure you I don't what you mean." Blueblood said. "Pinkie, are you sure?" Twilight questioned. Pinkie nodded quickly and pointed again, "I don't know what it is, but it's coming from him!"<br>"Surely, you must be mistaken." Rarity told them. "The Pinkie Sense doesn't make mistakes." Applejack said, somewhat accusingly.  
>Twilight looked from Pinkie and Applejack to Blueblood and Rarity. "I suppose it's possible that there could be a mistake." Twilight said slowly. "But there isn't a mistake!" Pinkie pleaded, "Search him you'll see!" Twilight sighed.<br>"I recently learned a spell to identify dark magic. If I cast it and nothing happens, then we were wrong." Twilight turned to Prince Blueblood and focused her magic. Seconds later, a magical aura spread over Blueblood. After only seconds, the aura turned from white to lime green, Blueblood's eyes did the same. The aura faded as everypony gasped.  
>Everypony in the ball room backed away from Blueblood, all except Rarity, who didn't want to believe what she'd just seen.<br>"B-Blueblood?" Rarity stammered. "I assure you, this is not as it appears!" Blueblood told them. "It appears as though you have stolen a book of dark magic." Princess Celestia accused, walking into the ball room.  
>"It isn't true! You must believe me!" Blueblood pleaded. "I wish I could, but you now have both the Pinkie Sense and proven dark magic against you."<br>"Please Princess be reasona-" Blueblood stopped mid-sentence when the chime of a clock striking nine o' clock. "Well, would you look at that," Blueblood grinned and chuckled, "I guess it's time." He said.  
>"Time for what exactly?" Celestia questioned. Blueblood chuckled again, before levitating a book into view. The book was jet black, with green pages.<br>"I believe this is the book you've been looking for." He said. Celestia's eyes narrowed at the sight off the book. "Why have you stolen that book?" She demanded.  
>"Why? Why did your sister read it? Why did its writer write it? Why does anypony do anything of great meaning? Power, great aunt, is key." Blueblood told her.<br>"If its power you're after, then why not take the book and run?" Twilight questioned, "Why bring it here off all places?" For the third time, Blueblood chuckled. "Why here? Why not? After all, if I'm going to provoke a response from the Princesses, then I guess I might as well start with the biggest threats first." He said.  
>"What you have failed to note," Celestia said, "is that, powerful as that book may be, it's no match for me, Princess Twilight, the previous holders of the Elements of Harmony, and the entire royal guard."<br>"What **you**have failed to note is that I didn't come alone." Blueblood said. As if on que, a shadowy figure bolted into the room. The figure was too fast to track as it shifted around the room. Finally, it came to a stop behind Blueblood.  
>There was a shadow of a massive pony on the wall behind Blueblood, but no pony casting it. The shadow glared with glowing yellow eyes. "It's the pony of shadows!" Pinkie gasped.<br>A horrifying sound that might have been the shadow pony's laughter rang out. A ball of yellow light emerged from the shadow, floating down to Blueblood.  
>"I-I don't understand!" Twilight stammered. "Let's just say that I've done my research." Blueblood said grinning.<br>Blueblood then turned and reached into the ball of light and from it pulled something that made caused everypony to gasp in shock. "I-is that-" Rarity started. "The alicorn amulet." Blueblood confirmed, attaching the artifact to his neck.  
>"Months of searching and planning, finally coming to volition." Blueblood laughed. "Blueblood, why are you doing this?" Rarity asked. "It's quite simple really. I may be royalty, but as I am an heir, I have no real power. I'm just a worthless figurehead. This is only made worse by the princesses being nil immortal. What point is there in an heir if the princesses never pass? So, it occurred to me some time ago that, if I was never going to be given any power, I could take it instead!"<br>Rarity looked at Blueblood in horror. "Oh there's no need for you to be afraid Rarity. I was sincere when speaking with you tonight." Blueblood told her.  
>"What do you mean?" Rarity questioned. "If I'm going to be a king, then I'm going to need a queen," Blueblood explained, a wicked look in his eyes, "You shall rule by my side." "I shall do no such thing!" Rarity told him.<br>Blueblood laughed, "Oh, you'll come around." Blueblood said. He then turned to everypony else, his eyes glowing with the combined power of the book and the alicorn amulet. "Now, what to do with all of you."  
>"We will not let you succeed in your foul doings!" Luna challenged. Blueblood chuckled, "I'm aware of the cliché nature of what I'm about to say, but I already have."<p>

_"If you want the picture of a charming prince_," Blueblood ducked underneath a blast of magic from Celestia, rises up and fires with an incredibly powerful blast of dark magic, pinning her to the floor, _"I take the cake."_  
>Rainbow Dash Flew at Blueblood, only to be stopped in mid-flight and slammed into the floor by a reddish green aura. "<em>But now you find me all the more alarming, since I'm as charming as a rattle snake!"<em>  
>Luna fired off a bolt of magic, only to have in redirected at herself. <em>"My debonair and dazzling personality, was like a dream. But now that your awake the harsh reality, is that things aren't always what they seem!"<em> Blueblood blasts the mane six, save for Rarity, binding them in chains.  
>"<em>Taken in, by my dashing grin, you failed to note the pointed teeth! I'm no fraud, but beneath this warm façade… I'm prince charmless underneath!<em>" Blueblood gets blasted in the back by Rarity. Blueblood smiles and waves his hoof over her horn. Rarity's horn glows dark red, and she finds herself unable to use magic.  
><em>"Just look at what a perfect little royal pair, we're gonna make! And all Equestria is yet unaware, that I now control their fate!"<em> Blueblood walked over to the fallen princess and former element holders. With a spark of his horn, they were all inside a cage, slowly sinking into the floor_.  
>"You've been grand for the plots I've planned and my gratitude's are profound and large."<em> Blueblood levitates Celestia and Luna's crowns away from them before the sink away, transforming one into the crown of a king and putting it on his head, giving the other to Rarity. _"Now's the time for the world to know,_" Another spell from Blueblood and all the royal guards eyes glow green and bow before him.  
><em>"That I'm hardly harmless! Ill-equip or armless! No, I'm prince charmless! And I'm in charge!"<em>

All three princesses and the former bearers of the elements found themselves chained to the walls in the royal dungeon. Pinkie Pie then turned to Rainbow Dash,  
>"You just had to say 'nothing could go wrong', didn't you?"<p>

**To be continued…**

The inspiration for this: watch?v=_Hgg787ECPQ

The inspiration for the inspiration: watch?v=4ZyDg2oikbQ


	2. episode 2

**AN: Sorry I keep referring to the mane cast, minus Twilight, as the 'former bearers of the elements of harmony', but I'm not sure how else to address them.**

**Episode 2: Prince Charmless, Part 2**

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do!?" "Pinkie Pie! Calm down, everything is going to okay." Celestia reassured her subject. "I know, but how often is there a situation when you get to shout 'What are we going to do!'?" Pinkie said.  
>Before anypony had a chance to respond, not that any of them could, the door to the dungeon opened and a small team of the royal guard entered. "Oh thank goodness, has Blueblood been subdued?" Celestia asked.<br>"King Blueblood has demanded to speak with the former princess Luna." The guard said, regarding Celestia the same as a common prisoner. "Oh no, Blueblood must have them hypnotized." Twilight realized. "What does he want with us?" Luna questioned.  
>"Prisoners do not ask questions," the guard said, pulling Luna out of the cage and removing her chains with magic, "now march!" he ordered, threatening her with his spear.<br>"Do not worry, we shall deal with Blueblood." Luna said, leaving the dungeon with the royal guard. 'That's what I'm afraid of.' Celestia thought to herself.

When Luna entered the throne room, she saw Blueblood sitting in her sisters throne, a mad grin on his face. Rarity sat on Luna's throne, shifting nervously. Both were dressed in regal cloaks. The pony of shadows form on the wall behind them.  
>"Why, if it isn't the former princess Luna." Blueblood said grinning. "Why have you summoned us here?" Luna demanded.<br>"Careful Luna, you must learn to keep that commanding tone down. You don't give orders anymore, I do. Now, lets talk about Nightmare Moon."

Luna was confused when she reentered the dungeon. "What did he want?" Celestia asked.  
>"He… asked us about Nightmare Moon." Luna said. "Nightmare Moon? What did he want to know?" Twilight asked. "He wanted to know everything. Every tiny detail about how we turned into Nightmare Moon, what drove us to it, what we did as her, how we thought, and how we felt." Luna explained. "Why in tarnation would he want to know all of that?" Applejack asked. "We fear we may know the answer." Luna said.<br>"So you know what he's planning?" Twilight asked. "Yes we believe we do," Luna said, "What's more, we believe we know how to stop him. But we must all escape this dungeon."  
>"Then let us be on our way." Celestia said, charging her magic into a large glowing ball of magical force and firing it at the bars.<p>

"Um, Blueblood, darling, why did you asks Luna those questions?" Rarity asked. Blueblood turned to Rarity and smiled.  
>"Let me tell you a story my dear." Blueblood's horn glowed and a sort of window appeared in front of them. As Blueblood spoke, the window showed his memories.<br>"Once upon a time there was a young colt, born to a powerful family. However, the colt had a problem with understanding what was truly important. He spent his days wasting time playing around with friends.  
>"Try as his parents might, they could not get there son to understand, and the young colt continued to turn his back on his wealth. So ungrateful was the young colt that he actually convinced his parents to take him on a trip to a back woods hick town called Ponyville.<br>"It was on this trip that the colt got lost in the Everfree forest. He wondered around the forest until he came across a old crumbling castle. The colt didn't like the idea of going inside the castle, but the thought of being out in the open in the night was worse. Inside the castle the colt was confronted by a shadow, eyes glowing yellow.  
>"The colt was afraid, but the shadow bore no malicious intent. On the contrary, the shadow comforted the colt and helped him get through the night alive. The next morning, the shadow showed the colt the way out of the forest and helped him back to his family.<br>"When the boy returned home, the shadow followed him.  
>"From that day on, the shadow visited the colt everyday, teaching him. The colt began to understand the importance of wealth and power. He stopped spending time with friends and focused on the important things. The shadow slowly started to fade, loosing it's power. So, the shadow and the colt who was now grown hatched a plan to bring them both to power. Which brings us to now." Blueblood looked up at the pony of shadows with pride in his eyes. "Its time," the shadow's voice echoed through the throne room, "Cast the spell."<br>"Uh, Blueblood, honey, I think this shadow pony might be manipulating you." Rarity said, trying to choose her words carefully. "The mare speaks out of turn! Banish her!" The shadow commanded. "Now, now, there's no need to be hasty. I'm sure she's simply forgotten herself." Blueblood said, trying to calm the shadow pony.  
>"Actually, I think your the one who's forgotten his place. And I think this shadow is to blame." Rarity said, more confidently. "Banish her!" The shadow wailed. "Look, even now the shadow's giving you orders." Rarity pointed out.<br>Blueblood didn't speak, he seemed confused. He looked at the shadow pony as though he'd never truly looked at it before. "I-I…" Blueblood stammered. "Banish her! I commanded it!" The shadow screamed.

"_Hey Blueblood, don't you see that she's not your light? She made you a pawn and told you you were a knight. She had you send your friends away, give up on fun and practice all day, just look around, how can you say this is right? Ever since you met, she decided your fate. From the cloths that you wore, down to the food that you ate. I know it seems she gave a lot, but I'm telling you it's part of a plot. A plot that you can stop! Stop it before it's too late!"  
><em>The shadow pony appeared between Blueblood and Rarity._"Hey Blueblood, you hear what she's been spreading? The lies that she's been telling? I know where this is heading. She's wants to turn you against me, to resent me and present me as though I am the villain, don't you go forgetting, that it was you Blueblood, yes you were the one, who I respected and protected as though you were my own son. Now your in the middle, and you can fiddle with this riddle, or you can cast the final spell and trust that your wishes will be done."  
><em>BlueBlood looked from the shadow pony to Rarity, unsure of who to :Where is the truth? Blueblood:_Who should I turn to?_ Shadow pony:_Where is the truth?_ Blueblood: _How can I learn who?_ Rarity:_Who is the one?_ Blueblood: _The one who can show me the truth of what I've done?_ Rarity:_Where is the truth?_Blueblood: _Why should I trust you?_ Shadow pony: _She was the one._ Blueblood: _You were the one who, wanted me to shun, all of the hard work I've done." _Rarity stood defiant, determined to make Blueblood see the truth.  
><em>"<em>_Hey Blueblood, can't you see in your heart? There's a role for you to play, and you must know this isn't the right part. I know my actions weren't ideal, but think about how your friends would fell, about the path you chose. Do you really think this is smart?"  
><em>Rarity:_Where is the truth?_ Blueblood:_Who should I turn to?_ Shadow pony:_Where is the truth? _Blueblood: _How can I learn who?_ Rarity:_Who is the one?_ Blueblood: _The one who can show me the truth of what I've done?_ Rarity:_Where is the truth?_ Blueblood: _I'm so conflicted!_ Shadow pony: _But she was the one._ Blueblood: _The one who restricted._ Shadow pony: _All the work you've done._ Blueblood: _And now I'll cast the spell to make me number one. _"No!" Rarity screamed as Blueblood's horn glowed with dark magic.  
>Blueblood turned to Rarity, the spell beginning, <em>"Maybe your right, it could be a giant mistake. But giving up my beliefs isn't a risk I'm willing to take. My old friends, life, and even you, they are the past and now I choose, to make a new world. A world that fits all my views!"<br>_The door flung open, and the royal sisters as well as the rest of the mane six entered the throne room.  
><em>"<em>_It's over princess, you lose!"_ The shadow pony called. There was a flash as Blueblood cast the spell. When the light faded, The shadow pony's body was swirling around Blueblood in a dark haze. Blueblood wailed, then went dead silent. When the shadows fell away, Blueblood's fur and mane had darkened, and his eyes turned yellow. He also now had dark wings. Blueblood, was now an alicorn. He laughed, but it was not his own laugh. "Finally I am free of that retched shadow form."  
>"Blueblood?" Rarity asked hesitantly. He laughed again. "Silly mare, Blueblood has faded. I am the shadow pony, and you will all bow."<br>"We shall do no such thing." Luna stated. "Then I shall make you." The shadow pony said. Now Luna laughed, "Have you so easily forgotten from what you were born? Do you not remember where you came from?" The moon began to glow bright and dark blue clouds of shadow surrounded Luna.  
>"Have you so easily forgotten me?" The shadows fell away, revealing Nightmare Moon. The shadow pony looked surprised, "I did not believe you would resort to taking such a form." Nightmare Moon grinned. revealing several pointed fangs, "Never doubt my devotion to my subjects. Have at thy!"<br>Nightmare and the shadow pony launched into the air and were immediately locked into combat.  
>Everypony ran to Rarity, "Rarity, what happened to Blueblood?" Twilight asked. "The pony of shadows had been manipulating him ever since he was a foal, pretending to help him. The brute convinced him to cast a spell that let the shadow pony inhabit his body! Blueblood isn't in control." Rarity told them.<br>"I can't believe the legends were true." Celestia said in awe. Suddenly there was a crash of a magical explosion and Nightmare Moon was thrown across the room. "Luna!" Celestia charged to help her sister.  
>She fired a blast of light at the shadow pony. It didn't do much, and Celestia was anchored to the floor by black crystal, but it did distract the shadow pony long enough for Nightmare Moon to cast a paralysis spell.<br>"Now we shall show you why you should not trifle with the likes of us!" She said, charging her magic. "Whats she fixin to do?" Applejack asked. "Something she shouldn't." Twilight said, teleporting.  
>She appeared in front of Nightmare Moon, "Stop!" She shouted. Nightmare Moon, startled by Twilight's sudden appearance, recoiled. The blast she'd been charging fired out the window, destroying every cloud in it's path until it dissipated.<br>"Why did you stop me?" Nightmare Moon questioned. "Do you have any idea how powerful that blast was? It wouldn't have just knocked out the shadow pony, it would've obliterated it!" Twilight said.  
>"This was the intention." Nightmare Moon said. "WHAT!?" "I am well aware of the shadow pony's power and intentions. Defeating it would mean nothing. It would simply return later; stronger, smarter, and harder to subdue. We must end the problem now." Nightmare Moon explained. "No! You can't do that!" Twilight said.<br>"Look at the facts. We stopped after we'd imprisoned Discord and he returned. We stopped after Sombre was turned to shadow and he returned. We stopped after Tirek was imprisoned and he returned. My sister stopped after I was banished and I returned. We haven't been solving the problems, only stalling them. But no longer."  
>Nightmare Moon started towards the shadow pony, but was stopped by all of the mane six blocking her path. "We can't let you do this. It isn't right!" Twilight said. "Yeah! You don't want to go back to being a big shadowy meanie again do you?" Pinkie said.<br>"Move, I command it!" Nightmare Moon ordered. "With all do respect, not a chance." Rainbow dash said. "Your surging with magic and in the heat of battle, just slow down and think. I know we can reach a merciful solution." Twilight said.  
>"You do not understand. It is good to be merciful, to 'play nice' as it were. But you can't always show mercy. Sometimes mercy makes things worse!" Nightmare Moon said. "She's right you know." A blast of dark magic was fired from the Shadow pony, newly un-paralyzed, and hit Twilight, who was knocked into the far wall. Her vision blurred, all she could see was a large dark figure charge into another before she blacked out.<p>

When Twilight came to, things we quiet.  
>"Hey, she's wakin up." Twilight recognized Applejack's voice. "What happened?" Twilight asked as her friends gathered around. "Well, after you were hit by that scary magic thing and fell asleep, Nightmare Moon tackled the shadow pony Blueblood," Pinkie said, "She told us to to hold them down and we did and then she cast some sort of spell that pulled the shadow pony out of Blueblood!"<br>"Blueblood fell unconscious and princess Celestia let out a bright white light. When it faded the pony of shadows was gone. Hopefully for good." Rarity said. "Definitely for good." Celestia said, approaching with Luna.  
>"Princess Luna! You back to normal." Twilight stated. "Indeed. It was slightly difficult, but we were able to pull ourselves out of our other form." Luna said. "That's good." Twilight said. Then something unsettling occurred to her, "Princess Celestia, you said that the pony of shadows was gone 'definitely for good'. You didn't..."<br>"I did was needed to be done Twilight." Celestia said softly, almost as if to herself. "But-but.. how could you do that?" Twilight didn't understand. "Harmony is something worth keeping alive, but sometimes doing so requires a little more chaos than we like to talk about," Luna said, "Just think about how you defeated Tirek, or Sombre, or anyone else who tried to bring disharmony. All acts of chaos, but acts of chaos that were done in the name of protecting your friends." "But if we solve problems with violence, then how are we any better than the ones we're fighting?" Twilight asked.  
>"Simple, they're fighting because they hate what's in front of them. You've been fighting because you love what lies behind you." Luna told them.<p>

**AN: If you want to complain about this particular moral go right on ahead, but you can't deny that there is at least some truth to it. Don't worry not every 'episode' is going to be an action/adventure (even though that's what the series was originally meant to be so says the almighty Fausticorn), just needed get good opener. You have my word (which means nothing by the way) that the next episode will be a good old fashion slice-of-life moral episode. ROLE THE CREDITS AND FADE TO BLACK! **


	3. episode 3

**Episode 3: Pinkie's Party Problems**

"Um, what exactly is this party for?" Fluttershy asked. "Not sure, but Pinkie threw it, so who cares?" Rainbow Dash said. "It's a party to break in the castle of course!" Pinkie said, jumping from nowhere. The party went on as any party would, and eventually it came time for everypony to leave. "You know, sometimes I think Pinkie has more fun at her parties than anypony else." Twilight joked. "Of course I have fun at my parties! I have fun planning them, I have fun at them, sometimes I even have fun cleaning them up!" Pinkie rambled. "I don't believe I even have as much fun designing. Of course I rarely end up wearing my designs." Rarity said. Pinkie giggled and was about to turn for another slice of cake, when she started to think. Now, Pinkie's mind works in strange and mysterious ways. It is a thing that cannot be pinned down or explained. One is wise not to try, as Pinkie's mind is a tangled labyrinth and if you try to get inside of it, you may never find your way back out again. She can be oblivious, sometimes her mind even twists an insult into a complement. And on occasion, it does the exact opposite. "Are-are you saying that I only have fun with my parties because I get to party at them?" Pinkie questioned. "Certainly not Pinkie, I would never." Rarity said, "I mean, considering how I phased it I suppose I can understand why you thought that's what I meant but-" Pinkie gasped dramatically. "That is what your saying! I can't believe it!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Oh here we go." Rainbow Dash said to herself. "Pinkie I'm sure that's not what she meant." Applejack said, trying to defuse the situation before Pinkie went to far off the deep end. "Maybe that's not what she meant, but that's what she said!" Pinkie said. "Um, Pinkie, maybe you should calm down." Fluttershy said. Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, then at Rarity, then started to think. Pinkie started to pace around the room, muttering to herself as she thought. Every so often somepony would try to get her attention, but it proved futile, Pinkie was off. After a few minutes she meandered off to her room. "What just happened?" Rarity asked. "I don't know, but it's probably going to get worse before it gets better." Rainbow Dash said. "Should we follow her?" Twilight asked. "No, you go in there, your going get hit with the party cannon." Rainbow Dash said, recounting a bad experience.

Pinkie continued to pace and think. After about an hour, she reached a perfectly logical conclusion, "All I have to do is not go to a party I've thrown!" Pinkie explained her plan to Gummy, who was preoccupied with chewing the table leg. "I'll put a surprise party together tomorrow and not tell anypony it was me! It's perfect!" Pinkie said, still unaware of the fact that Gummy was chewing on pretty much anything he could.

Pinkie had spent hours setting up a party in the middle of town. Setting the party up had been easy, the hard part was making sure no pony saw her. It was slightly more of a hassle than she'd expected. Currently she was hiding in an alley, waiting to see all the ponies that would be at the party. She could hear ponies showing up. They were confused at first, but pretty soon they were all enjoying the party. "This is so great! No one knows it was me!" Pinkie said to herself. "This is incredible!" Pinkie giggled at the various complements being giving. "I wonder who set this all up." A green unicorn mare wondered while pouring herself some punch. "Oh, I did silly fil-" Pinkie crammed her hoof in her mouth to stop herself. She'd almost stepped out of her hiding place. She wanted to join the party, but couldn't. Doing so would ruin everything. "No telling." The green unicorn's friend with purple/pink hair said. Pinkie began to shake. "I wish I knew who's idea it was to throw this party. I'd like to thank them personally." A stallion said to his friends. Pinkie began to sweat. "To bad know one seems to know who's party this is. It's a rager!" "This is an awesome party! Who do you think threw it?" "No clue, I guess they didn't feel like sticking around." "Maybe they just didn't want to party." Pinkie's heart began pounding, she shook violently, and she started hyperventilating. "It's okay Pinkie," She told herself, "You don't need to go to the party. You don't need to go to the party. You. Don't. Need. To. SURPRISE!" Pinkie shouted leaping from her hiding place and drawing several surprised gasps and applause. She couldn't take it anymore. She was a party pony after all. It was against her instincts to sit a party out. So, she did as Pinkie does, she partied.

"That was a great party." Pinkie said to herself, yawning as she got ready for bed. "I can't even remember what it was for." Pinkie looked at Gummy, still chewing on the table leg as he had been when she'd been planning the party. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Darn it!" Pinkie grumbled to herself, "Maybe I can't throw a party I don't get to go to." Pinkie said, believing she was talking to Gummy, but really just talking to herself, "It's just hard to put your heart into something if you don't get to see what happens next. You know?" Pinkie turned to look at Gummy, who was chewing on a box of cake mix. The gears began to turn in Pinkie's mind as she formed an idea. "That's it! Gummy your a genius!" Pinkie exclaimed, hugging Gummy as she went to work baking a cake. "I'll make a cake. Send it to my friends with no return address, and not go have some! It's the perfect plan!" When Pinkie was finished baking the cake, she put it in a box and, after prying Gummy off the tag, gave it to the mail ponies. She was so excited she knew it would take her hours to fall asleep. Never mind the fact that she was out like a light in two minutes flat.

The next day Pinkie was going about her business when she started thinking about how her friends would react to the cake. "They'll probably be excited. Really happy, with big smiles on their faces!" She said to herself. That made her want to go see, but she couldn't do that. So she tried to stop thinking about it. Unfortunately, trying not to think about something, only makes you think about it more. As she went about her day, she slowly got more and more frazzled as her mind ran away with her. "I don't need to know. I don't need to know. I. Don't. Need. To." And in a flash she was out the door and on her way to see her friends. Her speed was remarkable, her dexterity and ability to avoid birds even more so. In practically no time at all, she was at Twilight's castle, where all her friends currently were. She was about to ask them about the cake, then stopped when she didn't see the cake with them. "Hello Pinkie. Have you worked out your issue from before?" Rarity asked. Pinkie barely heard her, as she was currently trying to search the castle for the cake in the most discreet way possible. "Uh, yeah. Hey Twilight, have you gotten any, I don't know, packages in the mail recently?" Pinkie asked Twilight. "I don't think so." Twilight answered. "What!? I mean, are you sure you haven't gotten anything? A pastry of some kind perhaps?" Pinkie questioned while looking underneath the carpet. "No, why do you ask?" Twilight asked. Pinkie froze for a moment, then said, "Oh no reason, just wondering. I wonder about things all the time. I wonder about my friends, I wonder about the plants and animals, I wonder about politics, right now I'm just wondering about what you may or may not have gotten in the mail." Pinkie looked from side to side, trying to tell if any of her friends were on to here. "Well, I'll just be on my way now, I'll see you all later!" Pinkie said before bolting down the street. "I wonder about Pinkie." Twilight said. "No kidding." Rainbow Dash agreed.

Pinkie sped through town, trying to think of what could have happened to the cake. "I baked the cake, put it in the box, gave it the mail ponies, then-" She stopped. "The mail ponies! They'll no what happened for sure!"

"What do you mean you don't know what happened to it?" Pinkie asked. The light blue mare gave Pinkie a slightly off center look before shrugging. Another mail pony stepped up and said, "Look, the form says all the packages where delivered. On time no less. If you say your's wasn't, I don't know what to tell you." Pinkie sighed, "It's okay. I guess I can bake another one." Pinkie started home. As she walked, she wondered what could have happened. The mail ponies said all the packages were delivered, but the cake clearly wasn't. "Where could that cake have ended up?" Pinkie wondered. "The cake was delicious!" Pinkie stopped in here tracks. She turned on her heels to see a young gray earth pony filly talking to her friends. "It was chocolate, my favorite flavor!" Pinkie's eye twitched. Her cake had been chocolate. This filly had stolen it! Perhaps not on purpose, but she stole it none the less. Pinkie decided to march over there and tell her so, but the filly continued talking, "It was so amazing! I'd just been having the worst day ever. I got a bad grade on the test, got picked on at school, missed my ride home, and then a mail pony just gives me box with a cake inside! There wasn't even any return address! It made me so happy I just wanted to scream!" Pinkie went blank for a moment. Then she grinned wider than ever before. She hadn't meant for the cake to be delivered to the filly, but because it had been, she wasn't sad anymore. "And whether I see what happens or not, making ponies smile is what Pinkie Pie is all about!" She proclaimed to no one in particular.

Later Pinkie invited her friends over to explain to them what had happened. She'd decided that from now on she'd make ponies smile even if they didn't know it was her! "That's wonderful darling!" Rarity said. "It sure is! But I still don't know how the cake I made got delivered to that filly." Pinkie said. It was at that moment that Twilight noticed how Gummy was chewing on everything. "Um, Pinkie, by any chance did Gummy happen to chew on the box. Maybe the tag that has the send address on it?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, how'd you kno-" Pinkie started before realizing what had happened. She looked at Gummy, still chewing, and gasped dramatically. "Gummy! You chewed on the tag and smudged the numbers! You sent the cake to the filly on purpose to help me learn a lesson! Awww!" Pinkie pulled Gummy into a hug, not caring that he was chewing on her hair.

**AN: To those of you who are inevitably going to cry 'out of character' on Pinkie, go re-watch baby cakes or even Pinkie Pride.**


	4. episode 4

**Episode 4: The Trick of the Thing**

something was off in Ponyville, Twilight could feel it the moment she woke up, a perk of being an alicorn. She couldn't put her hoof on exactly what it was, but something was wrong. She couldn't shake the feeling, but she couldn't very well raise the alarm on a feeling. So, she did the only rational thing. She researched what was happening in the town, send some of the royal guard to check on the town, and told her friends about the feeling. At first, they were skeptical. Then Discord appeared. "She hasn't gone crazy yet," Discord said, "I feel it too." "Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked. "Certainly, and for the record, you've been looking in the wrong places." Discord said, pulling a newspaper out of thin air and placing it on the table. Everypony looked at the paper to see a missing pony report. "It says his name is Nowal and he kind of famous for debunking myths and hoaxes," Twilight read aloud, "A week ago he went to a supposed mystery house, which the owner claimed to be filled with an unknown form of magic that distorted the building like some kind of worm hole. He hasn't been seen since." "It's enough to make you wonder if their little nightmare house is the real deal after all." Discord said. "Do you think we should check it out?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I think we have to." Twilight said.

"This place is a hole." Rainbow Dash said, looking around the logic defying-ly cheesy haunted house, complete with unidentifiable monster bones, bat puppets, cob webs, and neon green question marks painted on the walls. "I don't like bein' disrespectful, but Rainbow Dash is right." Applejack agreed. "I know it looks cheap, but a pony did vanish here. Remember, looks can be deceiving." Twilight reminded them. Suddenly a feeling of being watched spread over all of the mane six. "D-did any of you just feel that?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "Uh-uh." The other five answered. Applejack turned, certain she heard something behind her, _family ties__._ Fluttershy turned, certain she heard something behind her, _hidden_ _wrath_. Rarity turned, certain she heard something behind her, _trust_. Pinkie Pie turned, certain she heard something behind her, _innocence_. Rainbow Dash turned, certain she heard something behind her, _fear of weakness_. Twilight turned, certain she heard something behind her, _power_. The mane six were back to back, trying to find what was making the noise, or failing that, at least make out what the noises were. "Enough!" Twilight cast magic dispersal and sent it throughout the building. "What in the world was all that about?" Rarity wondered. "I don't know, but I know how to find out." Twilight said, casting an identification spell. She searched the entire building with her magic, then searched again, but found nothing, except for a couple discarded candy wrappers. "There's nothing here." Twilight said, confused. "Then what were all those spooky voices?" Pinkie asked. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was just white noise playing on loop to frighten the visitors." Twilight said, feeling foalish for taking a haunted house so seriously. "If this place is a fake, then what happened to Nowal?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't know, but whatever did happen, it has nothing to do with this particular hoax." Twilight said, leading her friends out of the haunted house. _Doesn't it? _

Twilight, despite her research, couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Slowly, Twilight began to notice strange things going on around town. Anypony who saw Big Mac claimed he was pulling things around town for no reason. Supposedly every time he was seen, he was pulling something bigger and heavier than the time before. The CMC said that Cheerily was acting more and more nervous when teaching, always watching the door like she was expecting it to fall of it's hinges. Even Twilight's friends started to act strange. It started with Rainbow Dash. She'd always been slow to get to work, but now she wasn't working at all. All she did was fly around town, too fast to be followed. There were reports of her landing occasionally and asking whoever was closest to her if everything was okay before taking off again. Fluttershy had gone missing. One of the fruit venders had reported that she, Fluttershy, had gone on a rampage, sending three ponies to the hospital with bruises. She apparently came to her senses and ran of into the Everfree. Rarity had boarded up the Carousel Boutique. She refused to tell anypony why, but she'd been heard grumbling about being double crossed. Applejack was refusing to let Apple Bloom or Granny Smith leave the house, claiming that there was something after them. Pinkie Pie had apparently left a trail of destruction behind her without even trying, never aware of the damage she'd done until it was too late. Once she'd realized it was her fault, she locked herself in her room. Twilight tried to reason with them, but it was no use. Twilight was in her castle, trying to figure out what was happening, when the last straw was pulled. A member of the royal guard gave her a document, telling her only that it was to be handled carefully. When Twilight opened it, she saw that it had to do with trading with Mareitonia. She skimmed the document and signed it quickly so she could return to figuring out what was wrong with her friends and the town. It wasn't until the next day that Twilight realized her mistake. The royal guard returned with the documents, telling Twilight he could help her rally troops. "Rally troops? For what?" Twilight asked. "For the war princess." The guard said. "The what!" Twilight grabbed the documents and examined them thoroughly. Somehow, Twilight had been so unfocused, that she'd somehow accidentally sent a declaration of war to Mareitonia. Twilight Sparkle, princess of **friendship, **had started a war. Twilight quickly sent a letter to the delegates explaining that it had been a misunderstanding, then realized that it didn't matter. Something had caused this to happen. Something had caused everything that had gone wrong to happen. And it was at that haunted house, Twilight was sure of it.

Twilight entered the center of the haunted house. "Show yourself!" She shouted. There was no response. "I know your here! I figured out what you are!"_Have you really?_A voice resonated from nowhere. "Yes I have. Your a trickster!" Twilight stated. _Prove it. _The voice requested. Twilight had expected this, she'd done her research. "Trickster. A high level magical being able to take any form it chooses. Characterized by it's unmatched magical ability to bring any reality to life, an affinity for sweets, and a twisted sense of humor that drives it to play what it believes are ironic tricks on those it meets. The hoax buster pony, Nowal, he went missing after he came here. Gone with no trace anywhere. He didn't believe in worm holes, so you dropped him in one. There are candy wrappers littered throughout this entire building. I couldn't find you before because your magic outranks that of an alicorn." "Bravo! Brava! Twilight Sparkle step on down you've won a prize!" The trickster said, appearing across the room from Twilight in the form of a tall, gray earth pony with a jet black mane. His cutie mark showed a Cheshire cat's grin. "Though I must ask, how did you figure it out?" He asked. "I did my homework. I understood what was happening the moment I saw the description of a trickster in my monster manual. Tricksters were thought to be things of myth and legend. Until now that is." The trickster snickered, "Of course! I'd expect no less from Twilight Sparkle. Now for the six point four million bit question, now that you've figured it out, what to you plan to do about it?" Twilight could see in the trickster's eyes that it genuinely wanted to hear her answer. "Now, I play the part of the diplomat. Mr. Trickster, I request that you cease your mischievous antics." "Please, Mr. Trickster was my father, call me Tom, Tom Foolery." He said. "Very well, Tom, please forfeit your foalish tricks." Twilight asked. "Aw, wheres the fun in that?" Tom asked. Twilight had a minor flash back to her earlier experiences with Discord. 'No,' Twilight realized, 'he's worse than Discord.' That a creature could be more chaotic, more unreasonable, and worst of all, more powerful than Discord was a thoroughly frightening thought. Suddenly Twilight became incredibly aware of how much stronger this being was than her. How was she supposed to defeat it? "I'm waiting for an answer princess?" Tom said. 'Think Twilight, think. I'm only going to get one chance. I need to confuse him. He seems to know who I am. He knows enough about my friends to trap them in their own personal pranks. He runs on irony.' Twilight knew what to do. "If you don't stop willingly, I'll have to use force." Twilight answered. "Force? Princess, princess, I thought you'd done your research. You said it yourself, I'm stronger than you." Tom said. "Strength has nothing to do with it." Twilight said. "Oh, don't tell me, you use-" Tom appeared on top of a soap box with the Equestia flag flying behind him, "The almighty, unstoppable power of friendship!" He proclaimed dramatically. "Not even in the ball park." Twilight said. "Oh?" Tom's flag and soap box vanished. "Then what, pray tell, is your plan?" "Simple, if you do not surrender this very instant, I will send in an order to summon a small army of troops, evenly distributed among the three races of course, to defeat you in a timely fashion." Twilight said. Tom looked at her confused. "But what if defeating me seals the reality of those I've already trapped?" Tom asked. "So be it. While freeing them would be preferable, in the end I have to think about the many before the few." Twilight told him. "Seriously? Well who would have thought it! Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship for Celestia's sake! Sacrificing the supposed hopeless. I honestly don't know if I'm impressed, disappointed, or terrified! It's completely unprecedented! It's completely unexpected! It's-" Tom stopped as a blast of energy hit his stomach. Slowly, his body turned to stone, same as the spell once placed on Discord, "It's completely fake. Touche princess. Touche." Tom solidified, a look of quiet surrender permanently frozen on his face. There was a popping sound and a unicorn fell out of nowhere and landed on the floor. He had blue fur with a silver mane and a magnifying glass for a cutie mark. "Where-where am I?" He asked. "Who are you?" Twilight asked, unwilling to answer his question until she was certain it wasn't just another trick. "My name is Nowal."

Twilight explained what had been happening to the townsfolk. They were rattled at the existence of tricksters being proven, but were calmed down when Twilight explained that it was taken care of. Later, after confirming that they were not in fact at war with Mareitonia, Twilight send word to princess Celestia. Now that the existence of tricksters was proven there were a few cases that needed to be re-opened. Not to mention the textbooks that would have to be altered. It wasn't until a week later that Twilight started to wonder if what she'd done was really right. She'd saved her friends, but she'd imprisoned that, as far as it understood, was innocent to do so. Sure, he didn't know better and wouldn't have stopped willingly. Then again, he didn't know any better and had no idea what he was doing was wrong. On the one hoof, Princess Celestia did the same thing before, on the other, maybe that didn't justify it. 'Maybe this is what Princess Luna meant.' Twilight thought.

Tom Foolery's statue stood untouched. "I've got to hand it to myself," Tom said, leaning against the statue he'd manufactured, "This really has been some of my best work yet. Now, what next?"

**AN: I'm going to leave the details of the tricks pulled on the mane 6 to the head cannon makers. As for Tom Foolery, well, I don't like one off ending gags. Just look at my opener. **


	5. episode 5

**An Attitude for Aptitude**

Rarity, as per usual, was hard at work. Unlike usual, she was actually almost done. Unfortunately, she was having a difficult time concentrating with Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom goofing around. Said fillies entered Rarity's design room, breaking her concentration for the umpteenth time. "Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, what is it?" Rarity said calmly. "We were wondering what all the frustrated groaning was." Sweetie Bell answered. "If you must know, I'm almost done with my latest design," Rarity explained, "Would you two perhaps be leaving for crusading any time soon?" "Nope, Scootaloo's sick with the pony pox. We crusade together or not at all." Sweetie proclaimed. "Oh, well that's too bad." Rarity turned back to her design. It was technically finished, but it still needed something. "Well, would you mind playing elsewhere? I still need to give this design a final bit of oomph." Rarity told them. Sweetie, hearing this, instinctively tried to help, "Oh! Oh! Maybe you could try this!" She said, grabbing the nearest ribbon she could find. "Oh no, Sweetie Bell, the orange wouldn't go with any of the colors in the rest of the dress." Rarity said, trying to be as polite as possible. "Oh, well maybe you could try this!" Sweetie dashed across the room to a desk and grabbed a swatch of fabric. "Um, I don't think so, that wouldn't work with the other fabrics." Rarity said. "Maybe you could use this?" Apple Bloom suggested, presenting an amethyst she'd seen on the table. "No I- actually," Rarity said, levitating the gem in next to the design to make sure, "Yes. A few chips here, a few chips there, put the rest on the forelegs. Yes, I do believe that's it!" Rarity said, applying the gems. "Apple Bloom dear, how did you know to use that particular gem?" Rarity asked. "Well, I just noticed that the color and texture would compliment the style of the design." Apple Bloom said sheepishly. Rarity starred for a moment, surprised to see such a young filly knowing these skills. Then she got an idea, "Apple Bloom, what would you add to say, this one?" Rarity said, pulling out another design from the line. "Oh, Oh, how about this!" Sweetie Bell spoke first, showing a ruby she'd grabbed quickly the desk. "Actually, you might try this one." Apple Bloom said, taking a slightly discolored emerald from the desk. Rarity inspected the gem, "Yes, yes, this would fit the patter quite nicely," Rarity said, before looking at Apple Bloom, "Apple Bloom, would you like me to show you some of the other designs I've been working on?" Rarity asked. "I don't know." Apple Bloom said, not sure of the situation. "Oh trust me, I only want to see what you know." Rarity told her. "I don't really know anything about fashion." Apple Bloom said, uncertain. "Non-sense, it'll be fun. And if it isn't, you can stop." Rarity said. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try." Apple Bloom said. "Splendid! Sweetie Bell, would you mind running along? It wont take long." Rarity asked. "Oh, alright." Sweetie said, slight dejection in her voice. "If you want to stay you can." Rarity said, not wanting Sweetie Bell to feel left out. "No, it's okay." Sweetie said, leaving the room. Rarity briefly considered going after her, but decided that she would be okay. She turned to Apple Bloom, she'd never really had a pupil before.

Rarity spent the next couple of days showing Apple Bloom things about design. Rarity was surprised by how much Apple Bloom already knew, and even more surprised by how unaware she was of her own knowledge. Sweetie on the other hand was lonely. She couldn't visit Scootaloo because she'd never had the pony pox before and had no desire to get them now. She was just going out when she ran into Applejack. "Hi Applejack." She called. "Huh? Oh, hey Sweetie Bell. You seen Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked. "Yeah, Rarity's been teaching her about design." Sweetie said, slightly agitated. "Yeah, I know. It's just that she's been spendin' a lot of time here and she's starting to forget her chores." Applejack said, going inside. Sweetie, unable to resist, peeked through the window. Applejack was talking to Rarity, Apple Bloom was in the other room. Sweetie couldn't hear anything, but it almost looked like they were... fighting. After awhile Applejack came back out; she didn't look any happier than when she'd gone in. "What'd you an Rarity talk about?" Sweetie asked. "Nothing." Applejack said, then she got an idea, "Hey, I reckon you've gotten awful bored with none of your friends around. I could use a little help around the farm, if you'd like to give it a try." Applejack suggested. "Really?" Sweetie asked, "Sure!"

Applejack and Sweetie Bell spent the next few hours working on the farm. Sweetie couldn't say it was particularly fun, but it beat sitting around doing nothing. After awhile she stopped really noticing the things around her. She just went through the motions, zoned out for lack of a better word. It was because of this day-dream state that Sweetie was unable to see the shovel, which she walked directly into. Shocked by the sudden pain and the harsh snap back to reality, Sweetie stumbled backwards into the shed. What followed was a chain reaction the likes of which was nearly unheard of. Chicken egg flew through the air, boards fell, tools clattered to the ground, and finally Sweetie, covered head to hoof in various metal, was launched by catapult made from boards and a barrel into the cattle pin. Applejack had been tending to said cattle, and as such, when Sweetie fell from the sky like a omen of doom and landed on a pile of hay, the cattle rushed passed Applejack and out of the open fence. "Sweetie Bell! What happened?" Applejack asked. "I-I'm not sure. I hit a shovel and there where eggs and boards and then I was flying." Sweetie said. "Well come on, we gotta round up the cattle!" Applejack and Sweetie Bell ran after the cattle, who had disbursed throughout the farm. Applejack ran, lassoed, and corralled as best she could, but it was as up hill battle. She was getting tired and the cattle showed no signs of slowing down. "Sweetie Bell! Help me out would ya!" Applejack called from the depths of the stampede. "What am I supposed to do?" Sweetie questioned. "I don't know, But do something!" Applejack called again. Sweetie Bell, not knowing what else to do, began to sing.

"_Stars and moon and air balloons, fluffy clouds to the horizon. I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep again. Teddy bears of pink, ducks and lambs of white. No need to cry anymore, I'm here, I'll be your nightlight. _ _Stars and moon and air balloons, fluffy clouds to the horizon. I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep again. Smiles to cure the frowns. Twirling and tumbling in laughter. Someday life will be, happily ever after. Nevermore will storms come to destroy your little world. Nevermore will the waters rise 'till the mountains no longer touch the skies. Stars and moon and air balloons, fluffy clouds to the horizon. I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep again. I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep again"_

As Sweetie sang, the cattle slowly became less frightened. They calmed down, and then were lolled into a trance-like sleepiness. Applejack was easily able to herd them back into the pen in this state. After all the cattle were back in their pen, Applejack turned to Sweetie, "You did it! Nice pipes sugar cube!" Sweetie Bell looked at all the cattle back in their pen. It was because of her. Thing were like they were supposed to be because of her singing. "I did it? I did it. I did it!" Sweetie called. "Did what?" Rarity asked. Rarity had walked Apple Bloom back to the farm. Upon arrival, they'd been met with a cheering Sweetie Bell. "Rarity! Apple Bloom! You should have seen it! All the cattle got loose and Applejack couldn't get them back, so I sang them a lullaby and they all calmed down!" Sweetie told them. "That's awesome!" Apple Bloom said. "Indeed." Rarity said, some confusion on her face. As Sweetie and Apple Bloom ran off, Applejack walked over to talk to Rarity. "That sister of yours can sing like an angel." Applejack said. "She sure can." Rarity said proudly as she watched Sweetie and Apple Bloom. "Look, I'm awful sorry about before. I didn't mean to get angry. I guess I was just a little upset that somepony else might be better at helping my sister learn her talent than me. Applejack said. "It's quite alright. I and many others have been telling Sweetie Bell how wonderfully she sings, but until now, I've never seen her take any credit for it. And while I am a tad upset at the prospect that I couldn't be the one who helped her realize her ability, it's more important that she realizes it at all. How is a minor detail in the grant scheme of things, don't you thing?" Rarity said. Applejack chuckled, "No fooling."

**AN: But Web head! If it's a CMC episode, why do Applejack and Rarity learn a lesson? But Web head! Why isn't Scootaloo in this episode? But Web head! I doesn't count as a CMC episode if Scootaloo isn't with them! 1: Does it really matter? 2: Don't worry, she has a part to play. 3: Then I guess it isn't a CMC episode, big whoop.**

**P.S. I know the episode name sucks, but it's still better that testing testing 1 2 3.**

**P.S.S. Song: Wrap you in rainbows. To hear it, please refer to BaldDumbo Rat with love struck derpy. **


	6. episode 6

**Rarity's Big Break**

"I can't believe your leaving!" Pinkie cried dramatically, tears streaming like a broken pipe. "No need to be so dramatic," Rarity said, the irony of her statement lost on her, "It's just a trial run to see what it's like owning a shop in Canterlot. I'll only be gone a month." To late, Rarity realized she shouldn't have mentioned how long she'd be gone, as it immediately sent Pinkie into another barrage of tears and overacting. Rarity couldn't believe she'd gotten the shop, though it wasn't surprising that she had. Being friends with the princess of friendship had it's perks. It hadn't been all Twilight though. When word that Rarity was thinking of opening a shop in Canterlot, Fancy Pants had immediately had a shop built specifically for her.

"Good luck in Canterlot!" Scootaloo said, she and Apple Bloom having come to see Sweetie Belle off. "I simply can't wait to get to my new shop!" Rarity said. "We know you'll do great." Twilight said.

"Do try not to start any wars while I'm away." Rarity joked. Rarity boarded the train. She wasn't anywhere near about to tell them, but she was scared. She was going back to Canterlot.

"I can't believe it!" Rarity exclaimed at the sight of her new shop. It was huge, and decorated to Rarity's very request, down to the smallest detail. The inside was empty, but it wouldn't be for long. The joy Rarity got seeing it was practically tiring.

"Alright, time to get to work!"

Rarity, with Sweetie's help, had spent hours making the inside of the shop as beautiful as the outside. It had taken a lot of effort, but the result was worth it. Rarity looked around her new shop, giddy. She yawned, more weary from the work than she'd realized.

"Perhaps I'll just, rest my eyes for a moment." Rarity said to herself, eyes slowly closing. Her eyes hadn't even closed when the door opened and the bell rang. Rarity snapped to attention.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" She chimed automatically, looking to see the unicorn couple that had just entered her shop. The two looked around, seemingly impressed.

"We're throwing a party in a few days and were wondering if you could make us a matching outfit. Nothing to showing, but something to impress." The stallion said.

"Certainly! You'll find that here at Carousel Boutique, you'll never be disappointed!" Rarity told them.

Rarity finished the couples outfits a day before the party. When the couple saw them, they all but sang with joy. They couldn't thank Rarity enough. They paid her what they owed and extra.

"Tell your friends you got your outfits at Carousel Boutique!" Rarity called after them. It wasn't even the next day before Rarity received another order.

Rarity couldn't have popular she'd become. She'd become well known in Canterlot before, but that had taken days and she'd been actively trying to increase her status. This time she'd only been in Canterlot two days, without leaving her shop, not actually talking to any members of high society except customers, and she was just as popular if not more so than before.

"Perhaps I'm just made for Canterlot!" Rarity said herself while working. She'd received three more orders the night she'd finished the first. Two more the next day. And more and more over the course of the next few days. With so much work on her hooves, one would expect her to feel over worked. But quite the contrary, she'd never felt better. After awhile, she made so much money that she was actually able to hire assistants to help her manage her orders. She got every order in on time and didn't disappoint. Granted, she fell dead tired into her bed every night, but it was worth it. Until the end of the second week.

Rarity had just finished the dress she'd been working on. Two days before the deadline no less. When the mare came to retrieve her dress, she looked at it quizzically.

"Is there a problem?" Rarity asked, certain that, if there was a problem, she could fix it.

"No, not a problem per-say. I don't know, I guess with your reputation I was just expecting something, more." The mare paid for the dress and left. Rarity stood frozen for a moment. She mentally went over how she'd constructed the dress. She couldn't think of anything she'd done wrong. Just in case, she decide to make certain she put everything in to her next designs. And she did just that, spending an entire day, dawn till dusk, working on her next two designs. She was exhausted afterwords, but she felt wonderful. However, when she showed the designs to their owners, they both had the same reactions as the first. They didn't say that there was anything wrong with the designs, only that they'd been expecting more. Rarity just couldn't understand it; until I happened for the fourth time. Rather than say they'd been expecting more, they said that the design was uninspired. At first, Rarity didn't understand what they'd meant. She looked back over the designs she'd made recently, then compared them to her previous designs. That's when she saw it. There really wasn't anything wrong with the dresses, but they were not Rarity's normal level of fabulous. The quality of her work was beginning to suffer.

"Perhaps I have over worked myself slightly." Rarity told herself.

Rarity took the next three days off to relax, then returned to her work. To her dismay, her deign was no more inspired than the last. She could tell the moment she was finished with it. Rarity was baffled. She just didn't know what the problem was. But she knew she needed to figure it out, fast.

"Well hello miss Rarity." Fancy Pants called as her entered her shop.

"Hello Fancy Pants," Rarity said, "What brings you here?" "Just wanted to check in and see how you've been doing as of late." "Things are going absolutely wonderful!" Rarity said as convincingly as possible. Fancy Pants looked at her skeptically, "Are you sure? Because I've recently started hearing some sub-par views of your work." Fancy Pants told her. Rarity let out a sigh, "Okay, I don't know what it is, but I've started losing my inspiration when designing. At first I though I was just over worked, but that doesn't seem to be the problem." Rarity explained.

"That's quite a problem. I wish I could help, but I'm afraid my knowledge of inspiration begins and ends with knowing that its different for everypony and it has to come from somewhere. But here I am talking about nonsense, I'll just be on my way." Fancy Pants said, leaving the shop, leaving Rarity to wonder what he'd meant.

Rarity was wondering what to do next. She was tired, both from working and from worrying.

"Perhaps I'll just, rest my eyes for a moment." Rarity said to herself, eyes slowly closing. Before her eyes closed, the door opened and the bell rang.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" She chimed automatically, looking to see the unicorn couple that had just entered her shop. "Ah yes, we've heard good things about your work. We are attending a party tomorrow. Another couple, rivals of ours, will also be attending. We were wondering if you could make us an outfit to help us show them up." "Certainly! You'll find that here at Carousel Boutique, you'll never be disappointed!" Rarity told them, hoping it was true.

As she worked, Rarity noticed that the couple had a small filly with them. She was quiet and seemed to blend into the background.

"Hello, what's your name?" Rarity asked. "Walla. Walla Flower." She said quietly.

"Will I be making something for you too?" Rarity asked. "Oh no, our daughter won't be attending the party with us." "I see." Rarity said. As she continued working, it quickly became apparent to Rarity that the couple didn't pay much attention to their daughter. When the couple stepped outside to get a drink, Rarity spoke with the her.

"Walla, would you like me to show you some dresses?" Rarity asked. "But I'm not going to the party, remember?" Walla said. "So?"

Rarity showed Walla around her shop, giving her dresses to where of all different colors and covered in covered in a variety of different gems. The filly was surprised by how much she enjoyed herself. Unfortunately, when the couple returned, they were outraged.

"How dare you shirk your responsibilities to us. I demand you return to your work this instant!" Rarity looked at the couple and their filly, and something occurred to her. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Rarity said softly, escorting the couple out of her shop.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called to her sister, "Pack your bags. We're going home early!"

Walla Flower had felt better about herself the entire day, but it only lasted so long. The next day however, she received a package in the mail containing several beautiful, technicolor, gem encrusted set of dresses.

**AN: "When pursuing a passion, it's important to regularly take a step back and make a self check. To step back and decide if your efforts our serving your core values." **

** -Dr. Wolf**


	7. episode 7

**Nature vs Nurture**

Fluttershy, surprising no pony, was tending to her animals. She fed all the animals outside animals first, all the while, she had an odd feeling of being watched. However, she could find nothing watching her, so she shrugged the feeling off as irrational; she must have missed the eyes peeking from the bushes. She went inside to care for the rest of her animals. Soon there was a knock at the door. Fluttershy went to open the door, and to her befuddlement, saw what looked to be a teenaged dragon. Fluttershy slowly closed the door, breathing slowly, and stepped away slowly. Seconds later, the door swung open with devastating force.

"Hey little pony." The dragon had dark red scales and an orange mo-hawk like hood on his head. Fluttershy didn't know what to do. She couldn't very well call for help with the dragon right there. Discord was in Canterlot for some sort of meeting. As far as Fluttershy was concerned, she was defenseless.

"H-h-h-hello." Fluttershy said. "The names Garble. I hope you don't mind if I crash here for awhile." He said, more telling than asking. "A-actually I'd r-really rather-" Fluttershy started, "You know, I can't help but notice that your house is made from a tree." Garble said. "Y-yeah." Fluttershy didn't quite understand the point of the statement. Garble, seeing that Fluttershy wasn't getting it, faked a sneeze, spraying a jet of fire at the nearby curtains. In a panic, Fluttershy rushed to put out the fire.

"So what do you say, can I stay awhile?" Garble asked, a wicked grin on his face. Now Fluttershy understood what he'd been getting at. Either she let him stay in her home, or he'd burn it down.

For three days Garble was a menace in Fluttershy's home. He seemed to break something every time he took a step. If he sneezed or coughed he send out a stream of flame. It had only taken a few hours for him to find Fluttershy's stash of gems and start chowing down. Fluttershy had made several attempts to get herself or her animals out, but every time she was stopped by Garble. Angel bunny on the other hoof had opted to take the offensive. On day one he'd tried to push a bookshelf on top of Garble. He'd left a plate of gems in front of said book case and waited behind it, but by the time Angel had managed to push it over, Garble was gone. On day two he set up a rope trap, but only managed to catch Fluttershy, much to Garble's amusement. On day three he set up a trip wire and catapult that actually managed to launch Garble from the house, but only a few feet. Garble was back in the house in seconds and threw Angel bunny out. Angel spent an hour trying to get back inside before he realized that, since he was outside, he could get help. He face pawed and hopped off.

Garble was asleep on the couch, if Fluttershy was going to escape, she'd have to do it now. She made a dash for the door.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy froze in fear. She was so close, she could still make it out. "Are you leaving? Okay, I'll just stay here with all your little animals." Fluttershy could feel the smirk on Garble's face. She walked away from the door.

Angel bunny found two mares walking down the road. The began to explain the situation to them, but there was a problem. "What do you thinks wrong with him Lyra?" Angel tried desperately to get them to understand, but it was no use. "I think he's trying to tell us something." Angel pulled his ears in frustration before hopping off.

Fluttershy couldn't take it anymore. Garble had invaded her home, made her a prisoner, and eating her gems. Worst of all, he'd started harming her animals. Spitting balls of fire at the birds, roaring at the rodents, and even threatening to make stew. Defending herself was one thing, but defending those she cared about was another. Fluttershy mustered her courage, thinking about all the dangerous things she'd already done. She came up behind Garble, intend on turning him around and giving him the stare. But when she did, she saw a scars. Several wounds, some still fresh, criss-crossing all along his back.

"Garble, what happened to you?" Fluttershy asked, suddenly full of concern. Garble looked at her in surprise, "What these? It's nothing really. Me and some of the others played a game of king of the hoard. I lost." Fluttershy's mind began to understand. The off balance way he walked around that caused him to break things, a limp. Ponies didn't know a lot about dragons. But something that had been learned from the quest Spike went on during the dragon migration is that dragon society was based on strength. If Garble was injured, he wouldn't be able to return until he was better, or he'd risk the reputation he'd put his heart and soul into building.

"Would you like me to get you some tea?" Fluttershy asked. Garble grinned, firmly believing that she was still helping him because of fear.

Fluttershy spend another day caring for Garble, only now she did so willing, just as she was with any other wounded animal. Fluttershy was more than willing to do her part to aid in Garble's recovery. And then it happened.

"Garble! By order of the royal guard, we demand that you vacate the home of Fluttershy!" Garble and Fluttershy looked outside to see the royal guard, lead by the rest of mane six.

"Ah man, who called in cavalry?" Garble questioned. "I don't know." Fluttershy said, then she noticed Angel bunny perched on Twilight's shoulder, arms crossed in satisfaction. "Vacate the premises or we will escort you out by force!" Twilight called through a megaphone.

"Bring it on!" Garble called back. "Garble you can't fight them." Fluttershy said. "I'm a dragon remember?" "Your a wounded dragon." Fluttershy told him. "You saying I can't handle a fight?" Garble questioned. "No that's not what I meant. I just-" But Garble had already charged outside. Garble began fighting off the members of the royal guard. Judging by how anxious Rainbow Dash seemed, Fluttershy guessed that the plan was let the royal guard handle Garble and, if they couldn't, the rest of the mane six would intervene. To his credit, Garble held his own against the guard for awhile, but slowly he began to weaken, Fluttershy could see it. Then she saw that the royal guard was starting to gain the advantage.  
>"Stop!" Fluttershy pleaded, but no pony seemed to be listening. One of the guard found and opening and charged Garble. "Stop!" Fluttershy shouted, this time backing up her request with the stare. Everypony froze, including Garble.<p>

"Stand down." Fluttershy asked. The guards dropped their spears and stepped back, still under the influence of the stare. Garble lowered his fists. Garble watched as Fluttershy walked over to talk with her friends and realized two things. To second was that she'd had this power the whole time. 'She could've turned that stare thing on me whenever she wanted.'

"Fluttershy! What's going on? We though that that dragon was keeping you hostage!" Rainbow Dash said. "No, Garble was wounded in a dragon game and he's been staying with me to recuperate. I plan to keep him with me until he makes a full recovery." Fluttershy explained, causing Angel's mouth to drop.

After the royal guard had left, Fluttershy asked Garble if he would like to come inside. Garble was unsure of himself now that he knew the power Fluttershy wielded, but he wasn't about to admit it, even to himself, "I-I don't need your pity." Garble told her. "I know, but if you'll let me, I'd like to help you anyway." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah well... I'm still in charge!" Garble said. "Sure you are." Discord said, appearing behind him.

Garble made a full recover and left a week later. He didn't apologies about intruding or even say thank you, Fluttershy hadn't expected him to. As he left, Garble turned around and looked at Fluttershy in confusion, still not sure why she'd done what she'd done. Then, he few away into the sunset. Fluttershy wasn't sure what he'd do next, but she hoped he'd remember the kindness she'd shown him. And maybe, just maybe, show some to somepony else.

**AN: For the record, yes, he's the same Garble from Dragon Quest. Next time I attempt the hardest episode I've ever had to write. Not only will it be a Spike episode, it'll be the dreaded episode number eight. Wish me luck.**


	8. episode 8

**Yesterday's, Today's, Tomorrow**

When Twilight had gotten her castle and the royal guard had arrived, she also got several royal assistants. Spike was still Twilight's 'number one assistant', but now he had much, much less work to do. At first, he loved it. With so many ponies helping, all the work got done practically without Spike even helping. This left Spike with some time to himself. He spent it hunting for gems, catching up on his comic books, and generally anything he could to burn the time. But inevitably, Spike got bored with all the empty time. Spike would've turned to helping his other friends, but, being apart of the council of friendship, they all had royal assistants to. Spike was wondering around Ponyville looking for something to do, when he suddenly got a feeling of being watched. He turned around to see an earth pony staring at him. He had a gray coat and a jet black mane. His cutie mark showed a strange wicked grin, his own grin matched his mark. Spike was about to go ask him who he was, but then he vanished. Spike rubbed his eyes, but the pony was still gone. 'Must have just imagined it'. Spike thought, continuing on his way, oblivious to the chuckling.

"Hey Spike, could you help me with something?" Twilight asked. "Sure! I mean, sure, what do you need?" Spike said.

As the day progressed, everypony seemed to have something for Spike to do. Twilight needed him to mail important documents to the Crystal Empire. Fluttershy needed him to bring feathers that one of her more exotic birds had malted to Zecora to make certain it didn't have some kind of sickness. Applejack needed him to burn out a grove of dead apple trees. Rarity needed him to pick up some incredibly rare gems she's ordered called technie-rubies. Rainbow Dash needed him to help clear away a combustion cloud, a kind of cloud that will appear at random and can only be dissipated with fire. And Pinkie Pie needed him to help her with a dragon themed birthday for a young colt. Spike suddenly had tons of work to do, and he wasn't about to disappoint.

Spike had it all planned out. He'd start with the things that took the least time and work his way up. First, he sent Twilight's document to the Crystal Empire via dragon fire. Then he stopped by Sweet Apple Acres and set fire to the dead trees. After that, he dropped the feathers off at Zecora's. Next he picked up Rarity's technie-rubies along with some regular rubies. He snacked on a few of the regular rubies on his way and dropped them off. Then he found Rainbow Dash's combustion cloud and sprayed it with fire. Finally he arrived just in time to be the entertainment at the dragon party. Spike mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done.

Pinkie's party had gone perfect, but unfortunately, that and Fluttershy's deliver were all that had gone well. On his way back Rainbow Dash landed in front of him, a look of pure anger on her face.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked. "You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. The combustion cloud." "But I sprayed it with fire like you asked." Spike said. "You were supposed to wait for me. A combustion cloud needs to be lit when a pegasus is former a twister around it, otherwise it just gets bigger! The cloud burned down three acres before we were able to direct into the ocean." Rainbow Dash explained. "Oh no! Dash, I'm really sorry." Spike said. "That's not all. Since the combustion cloud was my responsibility, I got blamed for it! I lost my job." Too angry to continue talking, Rainbow Dash flew away in a huff. Now Spike was feeling bad, and not long after he ran into Twilight.

"Spike, you sent those documents to the Crystal Empire right?" She asked. "Yeah. Sending them through the dragon fire postal service was the first thing on my list." Spike said. "Oh good, I was- wait. Dragon fire?" Twilight suddenly looked worried, "Spike, those documents were some of the oldest thing retrieved from the Castle of the Two Sisters! They couldn't survive dragon fire transport!" "What? Twilight I'm sorry I didn't know." Spike told her. "I know, I know, I should have told you." Twilight said somberly as she walked away. Now Spike felt terrible, and things only got worse when he saw Rarity.

"I just don't understand!" Rarity said to herself. "What's wrong?" Spike asked, hoping it wasn't anything to bad. "Spike, you didn't happen to eat any of the gems did you?" Rarity asked. "Well, I guess I did eat a few of the regular rubies, okay all the regular rubies. Sorry." Spike said. "No, all the regular rubies are here. It seems you ate all the technie-rubies." Rarity told him. "Oh no, Rarity I-" "It's okay Spike. I suppose I should have explained the difference between the two. I can always order more. When more are found. If more are found." Rarity said. Spike didn't think things could get any worse. Unfortunately, the universe just loves proving Spike wrong.

Just over the horizon, Spike could see Sweet Apple Acres, two-thirds covered in fire. 'No,' Spike watched the fire spread. 'I lit the trees. I left to finish the work. I let the fire spread.' Spike ran home. He went to his room and remained there the rest of the night. He knew he should go apologies, but he couldn't bear to face Applejack.

When Spike woke up the next morning, he didn't actually remember what had happened the day before. It didn't hit him until he was half-way through breakfast. Said realization caused the young dragon to choke on his sapphires. Spike sighed, and left for Sweet Apple Acres.

'This is going to be bad.' Spike thought as he approached Sweet Apple Acres. As he got closer, he realized that something was wrong. He couldn't quite place a claw on it, but something was definitely wrong. Spike looked over the lush green trees of the orchard as he tried to figure it out. That's when it occurred to him, Sweet Apple Acres wasn't burned. Not even a single singed tree.

"Well howdy Spike." Applejack said as she approached him. "Applejack! The farm! It's-it's not burned!" Spike said frantically. "Well I should hope not. Funny you mention fire though, I was wonderin' if you could help me clear out a grove a dead trees with that dragon breath a yours."

As the day progressed, everypony gave Spike the same jobs they'd given him the day before. It was as yesterday had never happened. Spike, having grown up in a library recognized the repeating day trope. Just to be certain, he went about the day just as he had the last time. This was met with the same result and the next morning everything had reset. Now Spike was certain. Somepony somewhere had cast a spell on Spike. 'Or maybe I accidentally activated a cursed item. Or maybe Twilight tried to practice time spells again.' Spike thought. One way or another, perhaps out of desperation and a lack of alternatives, Spike resolved that the point of his curse was to let him correct his mistakes. So he went about the day, mailing Twilight's documents through the postal system rather than dragon fire, making sure the fire on the dead trees was out, not eating any of Rarity's gems, and waiting for Rainbow Dash before burning the combustion cloud. Unfortunately, doing this took so much time that he missed Pinkie's party. The day reset. This time he put extra effort into getting all his tasks done quickly and efficiently. He made it to the party, but was too tired to perform. The day reset. Spike changed around the schedule, waiting to get Rarity's gems until after Pinkie's party. Without getting the gems earlier, Rarity didn't have enough time to finish the special order which was due that night. The day reset. He waited to send the documents until after the party. The post office closed. The day reset. It seemed that no matter what course of action he took, the result was bad. On what Spike assumed was the twelfth day, he was sitting on a park bench before Twilight and the others asked his help, trying to think about what to do.

"Rough day?" Spike turned to see a gray earth pony sitting next to him. "Rough days." Spike said. "What's happened?" The grey pony asked. "My friends keep asking my help, and I try to help them all, but no matter how I try it, something falls flat." Spike explained, leaving out some of the more precarious details.

"Well, did you ever consider telling your friends that you've got enough to deal with? Just something to think about." The grey pony got up and turned to leave. 'Tell them I've got enough to deal with?' Spike wondered. "Hey, who are you?" Spike asked. "The names Tom." The grey pony called back, nit stopping or turning around. He had some kind of wicked smile for a cutie mark. It looked familiar, but Spike couldn't place it. He shook it off; he knew what he had to do.

"Hey Spike, could you help me with something?" Twilight asked. "Sorry Twilight, I'm on my way to help Applejack with some dead trees at Sweet Apple Acres. After that I have to help Rainbow Dash with a combustion cloud, and after that I'm the entertainment at Pinkie's dragon themed party," Spike explained, "Could you have one of the other assistants take care of it?" "Of course. It looks like you've got a long day." Twilight said. "You have no idea." Spike said.

Tom Foolery sat lounging on a roof top as he watched Spike head off to help his friend. "Funny," He said to himself, "You'd think that after that whole comic book business I wouldn't have to deal with that one again. Oh well, sometimes they never learn."

**AN: Well, I did it. I'll let history decide if I did it well, but I did it; a Spike episode. Yes, the Groundhog Day plot is used a lot, but it's used a lot for a reason and if the actual show never uses it, I'll be genuinely surprised. **


	9. episode 9

**Ha! Ha! We did it! We cracked a thousand views! And reviews are in the double digits! Man, my goals are lame. We now return you to your reguarly schedualed programs. **

**Eye of the Beholder**

No pony knew why. No pony knew what provoked it. All any pony knew was that it had happened. Pinkie Pie had decided to take up painting. Maybe it had something to do with her recent trip to the art museum or maybe it came from the ether, one way or the other, it was there. Pinkie spent nearly two days on her first painting, then invited her friend over to see it.

"I must admit Pinkie, you seem to have put a lot of effort into this." Rarity said. "Yep! It took me a while, but I think I've got it!" Pinkie pulled the cloth away to reveal her painting. Everypony's eyes went wide. Rainbow Dash actually cringed. Luckily, Pinkie didn't notice, "What do you think?" She asked. The painting showed a country side, a lake, clouds in the sky, and several foals frolicking. The colors ran where they shouldn't. The color combinations complemented each other in all the wrong ways. The lines curved when they should have been strait and were strait when they should have been curved.

"It's… very… colorful." Fluttershy offered. "Yes and the scene you've set is just… wonderful." Rarity said. The rest of Pinkie's friends gave the painting weak, half-hearted compliments. Pinkie Pie, hearing these compliments and taking them all at face value, squeed with joy, and them to leave so she could work on her next 'master piece'.

"So... Pinkie's painting was... interesting." Rainbow Dash said, hinting at the elephant in the room. "It was her first try, I'm sure the next one will be better." Twilight said.

The next one wasn't better. If it was worse. And the next was worse than the second, the next worse than the third, and, if such was even possible, the next was even worse than the fourth. But Pinkie's friends praised her work each time, as good friends do.

"We can't just keep lying to her." Rainbow final said, three days and four paintings later. "She's right, its best we tell her the truth now before somethin bad happens." Applejack agreed. "I don't want to hurt her feelings." Fluttershy said. "None of us do darling, but she'll get over it." Rarity said. "You have met Pinkie right? She doesn't just get over things," Twilight said, feeling bad about saying it, but knowing it was true, "If we tell her she can't paint there's no telling what she'll do. Especially since she'll realize that we were lying about her other paintings." Rainbow groaned, not liking it when things got like this. "Fine, but just for future reference, I told you so." "It'll be fine. Pinkie will get bored of painting eventually and move on. In the mean time, what harm could come?" Twilight said. Seconds later, Pinkie came hopping into view. "Hey Pinkie, do you have another painting to show us?" Twilight asked. "Nope." Pinkie said. Everypony sighed with relief, "I put my newest painting up at the art fair!" Pinkie exclaimed. All her friends dead panned.

"This is going to be bad," Rainbow said, flying back and forth through the art fair as though pacing, "Really, really bad." "Don't be so dramatic, it won't be that bad." Applejack said, arriving at Pinkie's art fair stand. "Remember when that Manehattan snob came to Sugar Cube Corner and insulted Pinkie's cake?" Rainbow questioned.

"Okay, it's going to be bad. But there ain't much we can do about it now." Applejack said. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity all arrived at Pinkie's art fair stand. When what took her so long, Rarity replied, "You'll see." Pinkie began her presentation and, much to the surprise of everypony, minus Rarity, the paintings were met with admiration and applause.

"What, how, huh?" Rainbow Dash didn't understand. "It took a few gems, but I convinced enough ponies to cheer to drowned out the rest," Rarity explained, "Admittedly its a temporary solution, but I'm fairly certain its all we'll need."

After the art fair Pinkie found her friends, grinning from ear-to-ear. She talked with her friends about how well everything went. They complemented her painting as they had before. "Guess what!" Pinkie proclaimed eventually. "What?" All her friends asked. "I've decided to enter an art competition!" All her friends dead panned.

The rest of the mane six spent most of the next day trying to figure out what to do. By putting their head together and observing the issue from every possible angle, they came up with nothing.

"Maybe we can talk to the judge. Not to bribe him or anything, just ask him to let Pinkie down easy. That way it won't hurt her as much." Twilight offered. With no other ideas, they all agreed.

Due to the anxiety of it all, the days leading up to the art competition were tedious at best and mind numbing at worst. Final, the day came. Pinkie stood in her place next to her latest creation, bouncing with anticipation.

"Problem," Twilight said when she found her friends, "The judges said that they 'refuse to say anything less than the complete and total truth.'" "We'll see about that." Rainbow Dash said, taking off.

"No!" Twilight called, magically pulling Rainbow Dash back to the ground. "We've done all we can. Now we just have to let the chips fall where they may." Rainbow sighed, and they all waited for the worst.

The competition began. The judges made their way to Pinkie. Excited, she pulled the cloth away to reveal a painting of herself and all her friends. The painting, while sweet, was ghastly. The judges were keen to tell Pinkie so. They sugar coated nothing, held nothing back; pointing out every single problem with Pinkie's painting, down to the smallest nick pick. All their complaints were valid, and they were polite and calm as they spoke, but that didn't make it any easier to watch. Fluttershy actually cringed from some of the things the judges said. And then, quick as it started, it was over. The judges moved on to the next piece, leaving Pinkie alone.

After the competition was over, the rest of the mane six went to comfort Pinkie.

"Hey Pinkie." Twilight said, her voice consoling. "Hey!" Pinkie said, energetic as always, "Thanks again for coming to the competition. It's still pretty early, you all want to go do something?" All of Pinkie's friends looked at her, confused.

"Whatcha all looking weird about?" Pinkie asked. "You don't seem very upset." Rainbow Dash said. "Upset? upset about what?" Pinkie asked. "You lost the contest." Fluttershy said. "And those judges were ever so rude." Rarity added.

"We thought you'd be a might more upset about it." Applejack said. "Why would I be upset? The judges weren't rude, they were right." Pinkie said.

"What?" They all questioned in perfect unison. "They were right, that painting looked awful! I don't know what I was thinking with those color choices. I made Dash look like her reflection in a fun house mirror and Rarity looked like she'd just lost a fight with a hurricane!"

"Well it certainly wasn't the best, but I guess we weren't expecting you to take it so well." Twilight admitted. "Its not like I'm happy that they didn't like my painting, but I needed them to tell me so. If I went and blew up at anyone who pointed out something wrong with something I did, I'd never be able to get better!"

"Not all criticisms are meant to hurt, some are meant to help! The first batch of cupcakes I ever made was horrible! If the cakes hadn't shown me what I'd done wrong, my cupcakes wouldn't be so delicious now!" Pinkie explained. The rest of the mane six stared at Pinkie. Sometimes they all forgot the wisdom that Pinkie kept under all that frizzy pink hair.

**AN: A message that can apply to anyone. Even me. In case you couldn't tell, this lesson is one I had to learn myself before I could write it down. I really worry that my work might not be good enough, and when I first started writing, I would explode at anyone who said anything I thought was about about my stories. This lead to some very, VERY, bad stories. Luckily, I grew out of it. I hope any fellow writers can take this lesson to heart as well.**


	10. episode 10

**AN: Maybe there's a moral here, maybe I just really wanted to write this. Either way, this is what I wrote and I'm sticking to it.**

**The Mystery of the Mare Do Well**

It was a normal day in Ponyville. The sun was shining; the birds were chirping and everypony was at peace. And, as is destine to happen on days like this, something went horribly wrong. It started with a few too many passengers signing up for a hot air balloon ride. Noticing that the extra weight was causing the balloon to sink a little low, the conductor went to increase the fire. On his way to do so, he tripped over a hoof, stumbled, and knocked the engine clean of the balloon. Now the engine was falling towards a building and the balloon towards a crowd of ponies. Had princess Twilight and her friends not been occupied by royal matters, they would have been on the scene and had the problem fixed before any onlookers even knew there was a problem. But this was not the case, and they didn't arrive nearly in time to rescue anypony. Luckily, when they did arrive, the problem had already been fixed.

"What happened?" Twilight asked. "It was incredible!" Mayor Mare explained the accident that had taken place on the balloon. "Oh my!" Twilight and her friends' eyes went wide with shock.

"But then, just before travesty, she appeared!" Mayor said. "Who?" Twilight asked. "The Mysterious Mare Do Well! She's returned!" The over excited mayor shouted. All eyes went wide. "Hmmm…" Rainbow Dash looked suspiciously at her friends. "What is it?" Applejack asked.

"The last time the Mare Do Well appeared, she was actually you all in disguise. Hearing that she's back just makes me a bit suspicious." Rainbow Dash said. "But we were all together when it happened." Pinkie pointed out. "Then what's going on?" Rainbow Dash questioned, confused. "I'm not sure, but I don't think there's anything we can do at the moment; especially considering that there isn't any problem right now." Twilight said. She too wanted to know what was going on, but she knew she'd have to wait.

They only ended up having to wait a week. There was a bank robbery and the thieves tried to flee into the Everfree forest. They never made it to the forest, before they could even reach the edge of town, the Mare Do Well descended from the sky from the sky. She landed with a stomp of her hooves that knocked the thieves to the ground. The thieves tried to escape, but the Mare Do Well had the robbers trapped within her magic. The whole thing was rather conveniently caught on camera by a nearby photographer.

"I can't believe it!" Rarity exclaimed, "Somepony has adopted the persona of the Mare Do Well for themselves!" "I can't believe that their doing a better job than we did." Twilight said, browsing the list of Mare Do Well's other feats the newspaper had put in next to the article.

"Hey! Nopony's better than us!" Rainbow Dash said defensively, "This new Mare Do Well is just a vigilante wannabe." "I must say I agree, to some extent," Rarity said, "Whoever this is, they're going to get themselves or possibly somepony else hurt."

"But so far the Mare Do Well hasn't failed or messed anything up." Pinkie said. "Not yet," Twilight said, "But they could, and I think we should have a talk with them."

The mane six all did their own searching, trying to find something about where the new Mare Do Well had come from or where her hide out was. The most they got were goofy little comic book-esc origin stories, "She was given her power from a magic comet!" "She can see into the future!" "She lives inside a hollowed out mountain that she had to slay a thousand year old dragon to get!" They got about a dozen different interpretations, but nothing concrete. Then Rainbow Dash found out something… troubling.

"I was checking around for news about the new Mare Do Well, and building caught on fire! I went to help anypony who might be stuck inside, but before I could, the Mare Do Well rushed in. She kicked through the walls to get to the ponies, flew them out and used magic to stop the fire. I was watching her the whole time, there wasn't any swap. This time, the Mare Do Well really is an alicorn." Rainbow Dash explained.

"But that isn't possible, is it?" Applejack wondered. "Well, we already know it's possible for a normal pony to become an alicorn, but anytime one transforms, the princesses are always alerted." Twilight said. "Maybe the Mare Do Well didn't want anypony to about her?" Pinkie offered. "But why wouldn't she? A new alicorn is no small matter." Rarity said.

"Duh, if she told everyone that she was an alicorn, then the bad guys would know what to expect." Pinkie explained. "What bad guys?" Fluttershy asked. "There are always bad guys." Pinkie said, unknowingly making a point about the world, humanity **(AN: Ponyanity?), **and life as a whole.

"Well whatever the reason, she's an alicorn." Rainbow Dash stated. Twilight nodded, "It seems this is more urgent than we thought."

On some level, the Mare Do Well probably knew that the mare with her saddle bag being stolen was probably a trap, but she had to act anyway, just in case. Her suspicions were confirmed when, after she'd landed behind the faux thief, four more ponies stepped out. One of them was even the princess Twilight Sparkle. Mare Do Well sighed, she'd known this would come eventually.

"I tell you what," She spoke disarmingly, "I tell you what you want to know if you can catch me." Mare Do Well picked up a small stone, "Just to make things interesting, no one makes a move until this stone hit the ground, agreed?" The six ponies all exchanged looks, then nodded, thinking it best to indulge Mare Do Well's game. She threw the stone into the air; all the ponies watched it soar. Before it even started falling back down, Mare Do Well let out an aura of magic energy. Twilight could easily have blocked it, if she'd known it was coming. The mane six were all thrown back; in the few seconds it took them to get back up, the Mare Do Well was flying away.

"Not this time." Rainbow Dash soared after her, the rest of the mane six following on hoof. Mare Do Well tried her hardest to escape. But Rainbow Dash matched her speed; Twilight's magic countered any cloaking spells she tried, and anytime she tried to get them lost, the one with the pink mane led them back. To her credit though, the mane six were having an equally difficult time trying to catch her. Then Pinkie got an idea. She whispered something to Applejack, who grinned wickedly, and jumped. Pinkie actually managed a back flip before her back hooves met Applejack's, who'd put more than the average force of an apple buck into it. Pinkie shot into the air and crashed into the Mare Do Well. With her distracted, Rainbow Dash was able to catch up with her and tackle her to the ground. Mare Do Well was strong, but with Rainbow Dash pinning her, Pinkie on standby, and Twilight and Rarity's magic holding her, she was caught.

"That magic wave you made before, it was crystal pony magic. Weaponized crystal pony magic, but crystal pony magic nonetheless." Twilight said. The Mare Do Well remained silent. "You said you'd talk if we caught you." Pinkie said. The Mare Do Well sighed again.

"Very well. Yes, it was crystal pony magic. I don't know why I have it, but I do." "Why did you take on the role of the Mare Do Well?" Twilight asked.

"Because the ponies need it. You all are heroes; I won't even try to deny that. But, as I have proven, you can't always make it in time; especially now that you all have royal this and that to deal with. It may sound shocking to you all, but I'm not doing anything wrong. As to why I chose the Mare Do Well, she was already well known and loved by the public. I was trying to avoid, well, this situation right here." Twilight opened her mouth to speak. To tell her what she was doing was wrong. To give a speech about how she didn't need to do this. But she didn't. she'd learned a few new things recently, and it seemed that they just kept proving themselves to be true. Rainbow Dash saw the look on Twilight's face and understood what she was thinking. She unpinned the Mare Do Well and Twilight let her magical hold go. The Mare Do Well didn't ask questions, she just ran.

"Why'd you let her go?" Pinkie asked. "Because Pinkie, she may not be what you think when you hear the word, but she'd a hero. The hero they'll need when we can't help. She lives in the shadows. Is she a dreams? Truth? Fiction? Oppression? Salvation? She is all of these things and none of them. She is… the Mare Do Well.

**AN: I lost track of how many references I made (Or tried to make). Also, does anyone think I could make a story about just the Mare Do Well?**


	11. episode 11

**Where There's Thunder**

Scootaloo had been feeling, well, lonely and bored. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle spent so much time practicing their creativity and singing respectively, that it had started cutting into their crusading time, leaving Scootaloo with nothing to do. "Ugh," She groaned in frustration, "How is singing and designing going to help get cutie marks?" Scootaloo complained to herself, the irony of what she'd said lost to her. Scootaloo stood, determined to find some way to spend her time. "If their practicing things, I'll work on something too!" Scootaloo declared. "But what should I practice?" No sooner than she asked herself the question did she spot a rainbow streak darting across the sky at speeds that would turn any normal pony to mush. Scootaloo's eyes lit up, and she followed the trail.

"So you want me to help you learn how to fly?" Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo nodded excitedly. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure she would make a good teacher, she hadn't exactly done a great job with Fluttershy, but she couldn't let Scootaloo down could she? "You're on squirt!" Scootaloo, despite telling herself repeatedly that she wouldn't, let out a squeal of joy.

"Okay, uh, this time try to up your speed by spreading your wings out farther." Rainbow Dash suggested. Things weren't going well, Rainbow Dash knew it. Nothing they did could get Scootaloo off the ground for more than a few seconds. Scootaloo knew it wasn't going well too, but she believed that Rainbow Dash had some sort of master plan to teach her how to make it work, this rough part was just a set up for later she though. Scootaloo spread her wings as far as she could before jumping off the cloud Rainbow Dash had carried her to. She glided a few feet before crashing to the ground. Not hard, but her pride was still wounded. "You okay squirt?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah, what's next?" Scootaloo replied. "Uh, I think we're done for today. We'll work some more later okay?" Rainbow Dash said. Scootaloo's face fell, "Yeah, okay."

For the next few days, whenever the other crusaders couldn't come out, Scootaloo would seek out Rainbow Dash for a flying lesson. Unfortunately, despite all the practice, she got no better. Scootaloo got more and more upset the more she failed, and it only got worse when it became apparent that Rainbow Dash was actively trying to avoid flying lessons. 'She thinks I'm a lost cause." Scootaloo thought. This however, was not the case. "I just can't face her," Rainbow Dash admitted to Fluttershy, "I don't know how to teach her. I don't want to let her down, but I don't think there's anything I can do."

Scootaloo was riding her scooter to clear her head. She didn't want to think about how she wasn't able to fly or how her idol was avoiding her, so she went faster and lost herself in the movement. Eventually she found herself a little ways out from Ponyville, but she knew she'd be able to get back just as quickly, so she didn't mind. When she could no longer focus on her scooter, she stopped; leaving her in the middle of a field. Scootaloo looked up at the clouds in the sky, depressed that she couldn't fly up to them. Scootaloo was dangerously close to thinking about how she may never be able to, when a brilliant blue and yellow streak zipped across the sky. Scootaloo watched in awe as the figure got faster and faster until it was bordering on rainboom speeds. The figure spun, twirled and shot light a bolt of lightning before slamming to the ground with more force than should have been possible without injury. Scootaloo galloped towards the figure, seeing it was an electric blue pegasus with a bright yellow mane. "Who are you?" Scootaloo asked. The pegasus turned and smirked, "The names Lightning Dust kid."

Lightning Dust and Scootaloo talked for a while. Scootaloo explained that she was having trouble flying, leaving out her practices with Rainbow Dash, as the whole thing embarrassed her. Hearing that the filly was having trouble, Lightning Dust offered to help her. Helping other ponies out wasn't normally her style, but ever since her experience at the Wonderbolts Academy, she'd been questioning her old style. Scootaloo was hesitant to accept help from Lightning Dust, feeling as though it was somehow a betrayal of Rainbow Dash. But in the end she decided that Rainbow Dash wasn't really teaching her anymore, so there was no problem.

It quickly became apparent to Lightning Dust that Scootaloo wasn't going to fly anytime soon. This was a sad thought, but Lightning Dust had another idea. "The bad news," Lightning Dust told her, "Is that you're not going to learn to fly, not from me at least." Scootaloo hung her head. "The good news is," This got Scootaloo's attention; "You might just be able to learn how to glide with style."

Lightning Dust worked with Scootaloo every day for a week. And it was starting to show. Scootaloo couldn't fly by any means, but, if the wind was with her and she kept her focus, she could glide almost a mile and land without a hitch. One day, Lightning Dust noticed Scootaloo on her scooter and realized that she had some real talent with it. Lightning Dust grinned as Scootaloo approached. "I got an idea." She said. "What idea?" Scootaloo asked. "I've seen you with that scooter of yours. You're pretty good on it. And now, you're not a bad glider either. So, if you put the two together, you just might pass for wicked!" Scootaloo's eyes widened.

Rainbow Dash was mad at herself. She'd left Scootaloo hanging, and that wasn't something you do. Rainbow Dash resolved to make good on her word and go back to teaching Scootaloo. She flew around town searching. A bunch of the town's ponies said they'd seen Scootaloo leaving for the field outside town around this time for the past few days. Rainbow Dash flew towards the field, stopping when she saw Scootaloo standing on top of a hill. Rainbow Dash was about to approach her, but stopped when she saw the look on Scootaloo's face, it was like she was waiting for something. Suddenly, Scootaloo dashed down the hill on her scooter, gaining speed every second. When she went up the net hill, she leapt of her scooter into the air. She glided for a few feet, did a mid-air triple flip, and landed perfectly on her scooter before coming to a halt. It had been amazing, and Rainbow was about to tell Scootaloo so, when she heard another voice, "That was awesome kid! Who needs to fly when you can pull something like that off?" Scootaloo blushed with embarrassment at the admiration. When Rainbow Dash saw Lightning Dust, her eyes narrowed. "You!" Lightning Dust turned to see Rainbow Dash. The shock of seeing her froze Lightning Dust in place. "What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash questioned. Lightning Dust, unable to find her words, remained silent. Rainbow Dash scowled and pulled Scootaloo away from Lightning Dust. "What are you doing with her?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "You know Lightning Dust?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh I know her alright, and you shouldn't be hanging around a pony like her." Scootaloo didn't understand what Rainbow Dash meant, but her words sett Lightning Dust on the defensive. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning Dust questioned. "It means I don't like the idea of Scootaloo hanging around a pony who'd knock somepony else out of the sky just for laughs!" "I've been helping her!" Lightning Dust defending. "Helping her what? Learn how to put her friends in danger?" Rainbow Dash spat. "That was an accident and I've been helping her learn how to glide! I saw she couldn't fly so I decided it would be the right thing to do to help her! If you're so concerned about her, why weren't you helping her?" Lightning Dust spat back. "Oh don't try and make me the bad pony here. I was on my way to help her today. You don't help ponies, you help yourself!" "I'll admit I used to, but ponies change! What could I possibly have to gain from helping a little filly learn how to be awesome?" "Oh please, don't even try the 'I'm a good pony now' act. Just because I can't figure out your angle doesn't mean you don't have one!" "Stop it!" Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust both turned in surprise to see Scootaloo. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but please stop it! Rainbow, I don't know what you think of Lightning Dust, but she's done nothing but help since I met her. Lightning Dust, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash came at you so mean, but that doesn't mean you should act just as bad." Scootaloo said. The two mares stood, star struck from being called out on foalish behavior by a filly roughly half their age and height. Scootaloo, not knowing what else to do, rode home on her scooter.

The net day Scootaloo went back to the field. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find there, but she certainly hadn't been expecting Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, who just yesterday had been ready and willing to start a brawl, standing side by side, smiling and waiting for her. In truth, the feud between the two wasn't quite lain to rest, but they were willing to work together to help Scootaloo and, in time, maybe even become friends.

**AN: I'm going to leave the moral here up for public debate. I briefly considered using Gilda Griffon for this, but in the end, I think Lightning Dust was the better choice. Especially because trying to right Gilda's bad seventies dialoged would be pure murder. **


	12. episode 12

**A Golden Apple Opportunity**

Applejack hadn't woken early so she could test the soil in some of the farther reaches of the farm. She yawned in the early morning light; she was used to getting up early, but that didn't make her less tired. Nevertheless, she pushed on to test the soil. If it was good, she'd be able to plant a few more apple trees, expanding upon the farm. She reached the edge of the orchard. It looked barren, but all that meant was that nopony had planted anything there. Applejack poked and prodded the soil, seeing if it would be any good for planting. Applejack's disturbing the soil let her to find what she believed to be a hollow spot under the dirt. It wouldn't be much of a problem as she could fill it in, but she needed to check how deep it went. She rearranged the dirt and, to her surprise, accidentally weakened the integrity of the ground enough for her to fall through the dirt into the hollow area underneath. Applejack groaned with discontent, and then she saw the contents of the small cave. "By Celestia." Applejack murmured to herself as looked upon the colossal hoard of shining gemstones.

Applejack told her family about the treasure trove and called Rarity over to see is she could appraise it. After about a half-hour, Rarity approached the Apple Family on shaking legs. "I… I don't even understand how that's possible. Applejack, that's more gems in one place than I've ever seen in my life!" Rarity exclaimed, unable to contain herself. Applejack knew it had been a lot, but she hadn't realized it was that much. "Did you figure out what's its worth?" Rarity nodded. "Applejack, that trove is worth more than the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres, five times over!"

It hadn't taken long for word of the 'Apple Family Fortune' to spread. In a week the news had reached as far as Manehatten. It's incredible how fast word of riches traveled. The Apples were shockingly unaffected by the admiration, they just continued their work (except for Apple Bloom being able to silence Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with a single mention of the treasure). Life just went on as it always had for the Apples. That is, until the Oranges arrived. The Oranges arrives at Sweet Apple Acres completely unannounced. "Can't we just drop in on family?" "Ya can, but ya never have befer." Granny Smith pointed out. It became quickly apparent the Oranges were interested in buying the gem hoard from them. The Apples didn't mind, to them it was just a few gems. However, even Granny Smith's jaw dropped when she heard how much the Oranges were willing to pay. If anypony had been looking closely enough, they might have been able to see two golden dollar signs appear for a moment in Apple Bloom's eyes. "So, what do you say?" the Oranges asked. The Apples, with no need for the gems, agreed.

Applejack had decided to use some of their new wealth to fix up the farm. She'd purchased all the supplies she'd need to have the barn looking better than it ever had before and got to work. "Why are you doing all that yourself?" Apple Bloom asked, "You could just have a worker pony do it." Apple Bloom wasn't wrong. Their new wealth put them practically on par with filthy rich, but something about just having somepony else do her work didn't sit right with Applejack, and Granny Smith agreed. "We can't just go 'round havin other ponies do our work fer us!" Granny exclaimed. "Why not?" Apple Bloom asked. "Why not? Why not! Ah'll tell ya why not!" Granny gestured to the photos splayed across the room, "Our family has worked together fer generations, and its that work that's brought us so close together. It isn't just about working the farm, its about working it as a family." Granny kept her calm while talking, figuring that if she raised her voice her grandchildren would think she was being irrational. Applejack couldn't help but agree with what Granny had said, then Apple Bloom spoke, "Ah know you don't want us driften apart, but that ain't gonna happen because we have a little more money. Heck, this money could change our lives." "That's what I'm afraid of!" Granny lamented. "Ya don't get it. The money could help us. Think about it!" Apple Bloom said. A first Applejack thought Apple Bloom was being childish and a little greedy, then she understood. The money could help them, a lot. A tutor to help with Apple Bloom's schooling, replacing all the rusted tools, and that was just the surface. They'd always had to work so hard, but now they might not. But what if it was that hard work that had bonded them so close. Applejack didn't know what to do.

Applejack went to work the farms to clear her head. She was conflicted. Granny had made a good point in saying they shouldn't use the money. But Apple Bloom had made a good point too. As she worked she saw Big Mac approaching, and realized that he hadn't given his opinion on the matter. "Big Mac, I..." Applejack hesitated to say it, "I don't know what to do. Either one of them could be right and no matter what I choose, somepony's going to be mad. What do you think?" Big Mac was quiet for a moment, then spoke, "If ya side with Granny and do nothin with the money, then ya could miss out on a great opportunity. But if ya side with Apple Bloom and use the money to change our lives, we might change too and drift apart." Applejack nodded, "But maybe, you can find a way to do both." Applejack's eyes widened.

Big Mac had explained what he'd meant, and the rest of the Apple Family was willing to go along with it. They didn't spend the money the way Apple Bloom was imaging, a whole new wardrobe, fancy saddle bags, etc. But they did fix up the barn, build a second barn, expand the farm by twenty acres, buy all new equipment, and even hire some more work ponies to help manage the farther parts of the farm. They'd still be working together, but now they wouldn't have to struggle so much. The farm was in better shape than it had been in generations, even Granny would agree to that. Plus, with all the help, Applejack had some extra time on her hooves to spend with her friends and family. And even after everything else, they still had a small fortune left, tucked away for a rainy day. The best of the old and the new.

**AN: Out with the old and in with the new is an understandable philosophy, but not one I agree with. At the same time you have to be sure that you don't cling to the old ways so much that it hinders your life. **

**I am a firm believer of 'the quiet wisdom of Big Mac'. I know he isn't supposed to 'speak good like me and you', but he did in 'Applebuck Season', though the yep nope trope wasn't really established back then. And before you go saying the status quoi is god, I'd like to point to exhibits A and B. Exhibit A grew out of Twilight's back in 'Magical Mystery Cure' and exhibit B sprouted from the ground at the end of 'Twilight's Kingdom'.**


	13. episode 13

**AN: Woo Ho! 2000 views! oh... sorry, here's your episode.**

**In Memory of the Golden Oak Library**

Twilight had been having a peaceful day. That is to say, she had been. When she got the news that another burnt piece of book from her library had been found, she torn off, going from zero to frantic in point three seconds. Most of the townsponies didn't understand what all the fuss was about charred book fragments, not that any of them would admit it. Most just nodded understandingly, silently confused by the ponies princess Twilight kept sending out to search for the remains of the library. Twilight arrived at the house not four minutes after she had been alerted. "We found it in the garden your majesty." The royal assistant said, levitating the blackened set of pages to Twilight. Twilight nodded, inspected the papers. At first she couldn't make it out, but eventually she concluded that it was a piece of the book of magic she'd been studying when Trixie showed up the first time. She smiled sadly, thanked her assistance, and returned home. She placed the burnt piece of book with the others that had been found.

Twilight's friends knew about Twilight's slight obsession with collecting the remains of her library, but didn't think too much of it. It didn't seem to do any harm, and it appeared to be helping her state of mind. "It's a coping mechanism." Rarity had explained to the rest of them, "She needs to do something to keep herself from getting too depressed." Applejack was skeptical at first, believing that Twilight would do better to simply face her feelings; Pinkie thought that a good enough party would be better than any amount of ruined book fragments, but Rarity insisted that this was just something Twilight needed to do and that they shouldn't interfere. Reluctantly, they agreed.

Twilight was eating lunch with her friends. She seemed in good spirits, and when one of her assistant had alerted her of another book piece, she actually considered leaving it for the time being. In the end though, she decided it would be better to collect the piece now so she didn't run the risk of not being able to think about anything else until she got it. It had been found wedged into the roof of a building on the opposite end of town. The distance surprised Twilight, but is had been a powerful explosion. When she saw the book, she froze, and her jaw nearly dropped. The book was almost completely intact, missing at most thirty percent of its content. It was the book that had contained Starswirl the Beard's unfinished spell, as well as many other powerful incantations. When Twilight brought it to her face to inspect it, it was all she could do not to weep, right there in front of her subjects. As she flipped through the pages, nearly unharmed, she almost did. But then something occurred to her that stopped her from breaking down. If the pages still attached were relatively undamaged, then the remaining pages might be as well. The magic kept inside this book had been the most valuable knowledge Twilight had had in her library. It was priceless, not to mention irreplaceable. It had to be saved. Twilight knew what her next course had to be. She explained the importance of this book to her assistants and told them to focus all their effort on collecting the remains of this book specifically, it was officially top priority.

Twilight riffled through the other pieces of books she'd collected. She needed to make sure that none of the more unidentifiable pieces were a part of Starswirl's book. She taught herself a spell to reverse the damage done to the book pieces. It had taken longer than Twilight cared for to learn, and it took a bit of effort to reconstitute the matter of the paper, but Twilight believed it was worth it; this was priceless magic at hoof after all. As she continued to reconstitute book pieces, it became clear to her that the spell she'd learned wouldn't be a suitable solution. A minor annoyance at first, but a glaring tragedy when she realized that Starswirl's book wasn't the only priceless book she'd had in her library. Ancient mythical creature encyclopedias, history book that went as far back as the days before the Two Sisters, countless Scrolls and spell books send specifically to Twilight from Celestia, not to mention all the valuable works of fiction. Twilight alerted her assistants to the nature of the task at hand, creating a rather extensive list of works for them to look out for. The royal assistants seemed troubled by the princess's compulsive actions, but didn't dare speak out. And even if they had, there was a good chance that Twilight wouldn't have listened to them.

Twilight's friends were beginning to worry about her. Even Rarity admitted that she'd taken this all a bit too far. When they'd last seen Twilight, she was issuing the search order for her important books not only to every member of the royal assistants, but to the royal guard as well. They had all seen what could become of their friend when her obsession got out of hand, and it wasn't something anypony wanted a repeat of. However, despite their worrying, none of them could find a way to voice their concern to Twilight. Anytime one of them tried, it either ended with them losing their nerve at how sad Twilight was without her books, or even to them offering to help find them. They knew it had gone too far, but when they were face to face with their friend, they convinced themselves that Twilight was in the right frame of mind. It was only a matter of time until the situation reached its breaking point.

The breaking point came about a week later. Twilight's friends had heard that she had called off the search. They went to visit her to make sure she hadn't simply given up hope. When they arrived, they were shocked at the scene. Twilight's room was filled almost entirely with countless papers. Twilight herself looked more sleep deprived that ever before as she wrote page after page. "Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight looked up from her papers and grinned, "Hello girls." She said as there was absolutely nothing wrong. "Um, Twi, what are you doin'?" Applejack asked. Twilight grinned wider, "Well, it occurred to me that no amount of effort would find all the pieces. There are simply too many of them and too many places they could have ended up. Not to mention the pieces parts that will have been damaged beyond repair. But I couldn't just let all that priceless literature vanish from the world; that would practically be criminal. So I got an idea. I realized that I haven't actually lost the books. There all in here," Twilight gestured to her head, "I read all of those books at least once. I can't find the scattered bits, but I can re-write them all!" Twilight seemed giddy, but her friends were a step away from frightened. "Um, Twilight dear, are you certain that's a good idea?" Rarity asked, choosing her words carefully. "What do you mean?" Twilight questioned. "Well, it's just that you don't look like you've been sleeping very much." Fluttershy said. "And the last time you got like this you almost destroyed the whole town single hoofidly!" Pinkie added. Twilight waved them off, "its okay, I'm not going to go crazy like that again." Twilight assured them. "Are you sure?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Absolutely. I just need to save these books. I get some rest right now, okay?" Twilight said. Her friends exchanged glances; Twilight certainly seemed to still have her head on right. They agreed to leave so Twilight could get some sleep, but the moment they were gone, Twilight went back to coping down her books, "I'll sleep when I'm done." She told herself.

"Twilight?" Spike called, pushing her door open to see her still slaving over her recreations of her books. "Oh Twilight, not again." Everyone was aware of the dangers of an overboard Twilight, but Spike had borne witness to at least a dozen of her break downs over the years. They would all be brought on by different things, but in the end, it all eventually boiled down to the scene before Spike: Twilight, little to no sleep, horror movie hair, a cracked grin, and a sense of logic twisted nearly beyond repair. "Oh, hello Spike." Her voice was distant as she continued to write. "Twilight, what's going on?" Spike asked. Twilight looked up and eagerly explained her plan to re-create her entire library by herself. "Now that you're here, you can help! You know a lot of the books from the library too." Twilight suggested. "Twilight, I think you need to stop." Spike said. "Stop? What do you mean?" Twilight asked. "I mean, you've taken this way too far. I know you don't want to lose all your old books, but this isn't healthy. Even you have to know that." Twilight scowled, "You just don't understand." She said. "Yes I do," Spike said, stopping Twilight, "the library was my home too." The words hit Twilight like a smack to the face. He was right; it had never occurred to her that Spike had lost just as much as her. "The first night we first moved to the castle, I couldn't sleep. It just wasn't my bed. So I snuck out. I went to Golden Oak. I just sort of walked around the rubble for a while. Then I saw it, one of my gems. Not a normal gemstone, one of the special ones, like the fire ruby I gave Rarity. I freaked out. I knew I had to find the rest of them. I only went out at night, because I knew you'd try to stop me. I kept at until just a week ago. I didn't know what I was going to do when I had them all, but I needed to get all of them back." Spike explained. "But that doesn't make any sense." Twilight said. Spike gestured to Twilight's room, indicating the enormous pile of re-written books. Twilight let out a sigh, seeing his point. "I know you don't want to give up the Golden Oak library, but it's already gone. And slaving over these books won't bring it back." Twilight marveled over the intelligence of her number one assistant. Then, unable to hold it back after keeping in so long, Twilight broke down crying. At some point, Spike joined her. The two sat there, weeping over the memory of their weeping for their old home.

Twilight had given up on her doomed attempt to re-write all the books, much to her friend's relief. She'd also taken up a new hobby. "Careful! Those books are very valuable!" Twilight called to the workers. "It's just as I said, all she needed was a coping mechanism." Rarity said as they all looked out at the slowly forming, New Golden Oak Library.


	14. episode 14

**Checkmate**

Discord was not happy. He didn't like being left alone, not that he'd ever admit the fact. Perhaps it was that he had just grown so used to Fluttershy being within earshot that it bothered him when she wasn't, or maybe it was something deeper, like not trusting himself to be left alone.  
>Whatever the reason, Discord didn't know, or care to find out; he didn't like regardless. It didn't help that the reason for Fluttershy's current absence was to deal with a meeting with foreign dignitaries who were known even in Equestria for being war-like. When he first heard this, Discord had subtlety insisted that he join them, and it almost worked to.<br>But Twilight was afraid, and rightfully so, that having a draconequus of any kind, let alone Discord himself, would probably put the dignitaries on edge.  
>So now, Discord lay on a bed he'd conjured on the ceiling, feeling sorry for himself. Whole truth be told, Fluttershy's safety wasn't the only reason he'd wanted to go.<br>Ever since he'd betrayed his friends, he'd taken every opportunity to help them in whatever way he could; so long as he could do so without making it look like he was meaning to of course. They had all long since forgiven him, but he still felt guilty for his betrayal, and he knew he had to work harder to make it right.  
>His main method of doing so was the one that grated on his nerves the most. He didn't do anything. With the exception of various things around Fluttershy's house, he hadn't used his powers in weeks. He hadn't told anypony of his commitment to keep his powers to himself, mainly because he knew they were likely to give him a speech about how not using his powers now didn't change what he'd done in the past and all he could do was work to fix the damage and blah blah blah.<br>Discord had convinced himself he was right and wasn't about to rick being proved wrong. He hated not doing anything with his power, with a burning passion. No random cotton candy clouds. No strange and wonderful creatures forming from the either. It was taxing his sanity, but he was determined to keep it up until… he didn't know.  
>But he would keep it up. So here he was, board beyond logic, with not a thing to do. Much to Discord's surprise and confusion, there was a knock at the door. Discord eyed the door suspiciously, unsure of what to do. It couldn't be Fluttershy, to early. Nor could it be any of her friends, they'd be with her. He didn't know many ponies besides them.<br>"Are you going to let me in or am I going to have to banish the door to the thirty-seventh dimension?"  
>A voice called from behind the door. Discord scratched his head and teleported in front of the door. Using his magic, Discord peered through the door to see a grey stallion with a black mane. Curiously, the pony looked directly at where Discord's eyes would be.<br>"Hey, do you get cable on those things?" He asked. Discord, knowing full well the danger that this strange pony could bring, couldn't help but open the door. He wanted to know who he was.  
>"Well hello Discord!" The pony said, walking passed him into Fluttershy's house without being invited. "How's your day been going? Good I hope."<br>Discord continued to eye him suspiciously. "Do I have food on my face?" He asked. The pony raised his hoof to his face, a handkerchief appearing from nowhere to wipe his face.  
>"Who are you exactly?" Discord questioned. "Finally! I was starting to think you would never ask! The names Foolery, Tom Foolery."<br>Discord took a step back. He'd heard about the trickster from Twilight and knew full well of his powers.  
>Ordinarily, he would likely underestimate the magical creature, but Discord had been around long enough to have crossed paths with a trickster before. It wasn't a day he remembered fondly.<br>What do you want?" Discord asked, knowing that telling him to leave out right wouldn't end well. The trickster smiled.  
>"Well, I was just passing through and couldn't help but notice that you've got the day to yourself, which must be boring considering that you've elected to put a lid on your powers."<br>"How do you know about that?" Discord asked, inciting a throaty laugh from Tom.,  
>"I've forgotten more things since I woke up this morning than you'll learn in another fifty life times. Tell me, how's that powerless thing working out for you? Cause from here it looks as bout as fun as watching solid white paint dry on construction paper on a long Sunday." Tom said.<br>"I'm doing fine." Discord replied, still choosing his words carefully.  
>"You're a riot, really you are. Tell me, why aren't you using your powers again? Give me a recap." Tom asked, resting his chin on his hoofs.<br>"My powers get my friend hurt, so I'm helping them by not using them." Discord answered honestly.  
>"I see, tell me, why can't you help your friends and use your powers?" Tom asked.<br>"Because that's not how it works." Discord said. The statement put a frown on Tom's face. Discord realized how much he hated the sound of his own claim.  
>"Well that's dumb. If the rules are working against what's right, then just change the rules." Tom suggested. "You can't just change the rules." Discord said, again hating the sound of the words.<br>Tom grinned, "Well now I've seen it all. The undisputed king of chaos says we can't change the rules. We can by the way; I do it all the time. Watch."  
>Tom clapped his hooves together and a chess board appeared on a table between them, the black pieces on Discord's side, the white on Tom's.<br>"Tada! The rules are changed!" Tom exclaimed. "How?" Discord questioned. "Simple. Each one of these chess pieces will correspond with the movement of another pony. I move a piece, the pony it's linked to moves in the same fashion. Same for you.  
>"Your pieces will control the movement of your friends. Mine will control the war party that's dead set on attacking them."<br>"What?" Discord's eyes widened. "Let's just say the dignitaries didn't like your friends very much. Our chess game will correspond with their battle." Tom explained.  
>Discord didn't listen. He was intent to teleport to his friends' aid. Surly he could handle a few war crazed ponies. But when he tried to teleport, he couldn't.<br>"None of that now, we have to play the game." Tom said. "Why can't I teleport?" Discord demanded. "I changed the rules remember?" Tom smirked. "Now let's have a nice friendly game of chess. Because you care for her the most, and the king is the most valuable piece, Fluttershy is the king. The queen will be princess Twilight. The two knight the two earth ponies. The rooks Rarity and Rainbow Dash. And the bishops and pawns will be members of Twilight's royal guard. My pieces will be the war ponies. Now that that's all cleared up, let's play."  
>Discord knew he couldn't over power the trickster, so he had no choice but to play the game.<p>

The game lasted ten minutes. Discord had become very good at games in his years. Most wouldn't expect the spirit of chaos to be good at a game based on focus and patience. Frankly, he'd forgotten that he was an expert at the game. But despite his skill, Tom made him look like a noob. Every move the trickster made was meant to throw Discord off. He captured Fluttershy with a pawn. Discord look in horror as the piece fell to the board, seeing Fluttershy falling to the ground in his mind's eye.  
>"Bad luck old chum, but uh… you could always try again." Tom said. Discord looked up at Tom, the trickster's grin matching his cutie mark.<br>"What do you mean?" Discord questioned. "Well, being as powerful a being as I am, I have the ability to… reset the board so to speak. So what do you say, care to play again?" Discord knew there would be some trick to it, but he accepted any way. He couldn't risk the alternative.

Hours. They played chess for hours. Every single time, Discord lost. The king's gambit, the dragon's guard, the lion's march, Tom Foolery trumped them all.  
>The trickster's grin grew wider every time Discord lost. Tom set the pieces again and moved a pawn two spaces. Discord waited, thinking hard. 'There has to be something, anything. Tricksters always leave something, they can't help it, it's their one rule,' Discord thought. Then it hit him.<br>_If the rules are working against what's right, then just change the rules_.  
>Discord picked up a pawn and moved it all the way across the board, knocking over the king. "Checkmate." He said, hoping against hope that he was right. Tom eyes the piece, then let out a roaring laugh.<br>"Well it sure took you long enough!" Tom's laughter echoed through the house. Eventually Discord started laughing too.  
>"Now, I don't want to hear any more of this 'rules are set in stone' business." Tom said.<br>Discord nodded, "So, my friends are safe now?" Discord asked. "Indeedly so, but they were the whole time."  
>Discord's eyes widened, "So, they were never in actual danger? We've just been playing chess for hours?" Tom nodded, "You must admit there are worse ways to wait for Fluttershy to get back."<br>"Why would you do that? Why make me believe that you were controlling my friends?" Discord questioned.  
>"Simple really!" Tom said, vanishing and reappearing on a stage that appeared from nothing.<br>"You've… been… trolled! You've been trolled! Yes you've probably been told,"  
>Faces appeared over Discord's shoulders, telling him, "Not to reply to this guy he's just trying to get arise,"<br>The faces vanished and Tom jabbed his hoof directly into Discord's face, "Out of you! Yes it's true! Your response was my que! To make trouble on the double as I stroked my manly stubble! You've been trolled! You've been trolled! You should probably just fold! When the only winning move was not to play! And yep you kept on trying! Mindlessly replying! You've been trolled! You've been trolled! Have a nice day!" And with that, Tom danced his way out the door, leaving Discord baffled.

Discord started out slow. A cotton candy cloud here, a brand new mythical creature there. Then it started raining food in places where ponies starved, the poor found gems that normally didn't exist, and nightmares gave inventers the inspiration to create. Sometimes, a little chaos is just what the world needs.

**AN: Anthony C is best troll face. That is all.**


	15. episode 15

**Warning, the following story is rushed and broken. Proceed with caution.**

**Fluttershy's Family**

Fluttershy, simply by her nature, was rarely completely at peace.  
>But on days like today, when nothing had gone wrong, there'd been no reminders of how overwhelmingly terrifying the world is, and no mean she hadn't been confronted by any rude pony's, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel in good spirits. Her good mood was infectious, and quickly spread to her friends. Even Angel bunny couldn't find anything to complain about, which was a shocking occasion in and of itself.<br>Fluttershy decided to invite her friends over for lunch at her house. They arrived, ate, talked, laughed, and generally had a good time. All was going well, until Fluttershy got her mail.  
>She looked over the letter the mail pony had given her, and froze when she saw who had sent it. "Oh my." Was all she could manage to say.<br>"What's wrong?" Discord asked, appearing by Fluttershy's side. Fluttershy moved strangely as she opened the envelope, as though she was trying to move slowly and quickly at the same time. She took out the letter and read it in silence. Her friends, still in the dark about what was happening, didn't know what to do; save for Pinkie, who was reading the letter over Fluttershy's shoulder.  
>When Fluttershy finished reading, she stood stock still, a look of disbelief spread across her face.<br>When Pinkie finished reading, she gasped the way only Pinkie could.  
>"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash questioned, unable to hold her silence any longer. "Fluttershy's family is coming over to visit!" Pinkie exclaimed, excited. As far as Pinkie knew, this was just another chance to meet new ponies. She didn't seem to notice that fact that Fluttershy didn't look excited. Nor did she notice that Rainbow Dash's expression now matched Fluttershy's.<br>Rainbow Dash rushed over and read the letter, then shook her head. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked, noticing the disdain her friends were feeling.  
>"It's… it's nothing." Fluttershy said quietly. "Now even I know that's a lie," Discord said, crossing his arms, "and I thought we agreed not to do that anymore."<br>"I would think you'd be ecstatic that your family is coming for a visit," Rarity said, "haven't you missed them?"  
>It was this question that, even if only slightly, pulled Fluttershy out of her limbo, "Oh, of course I've missed them. It's been a really long time since I saw them. It's just, well…" Fluttershy trailed off.<br>"It's just that their jerks." Rainbow Dash finished, a slight edge to her voice. "Oh Rainbow, please don't say things like that." Fluttershy said.  
>"Well they are! I know I only met them once, but in the two hours I was there, I heard them make fun of your flying, your hair, your room, your coat, your hooves, and your taste in friends; and that's just the stuff I didn't tune out! That last one might have been because I broke that plate, but still!" Rainbow Dash said in a huff.<br>This was a shocking revelation for Fluttershy's friends. They'd all assumed that a pony as kind hearted as Fluttershy was the result of a kind hearted family. Pinkie, whose gasped had frightened most of the smaller animals in the room, was the most surprised.  
>Angel bunny on the other hoof, was not. He'd heard Fluttershy talk about her family before, even seen them come to the cottage once. Angel didn't like them. And he knew that they made Fluttershy upset, which made him not like them even more. So, hearing that they were returning had Angel upset as well. At the moment the rabbit was off hiding his food. The last time they'd come to the cottage, one of them stepped in his food dish on purpose just to make him angry.<br>"They don't mean to be rude," Fluttershy said, institutionally defending her family, "They're just set in their ways."  
>This statement seemed to irritate Discord. "Set in their ways? You mean, like I was?"<br>This caught Fluttershy off guard, "That's different." She said, but Discord shook his head, "No, it isn't Fluttershy."  
>Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash began arguing with Fluttershy (or whatever Fluttershy could do that resembled argument).<br>"Would y'all hush up!?" Applejack shouted. "Fluttershy, if yer family is being mean to ya, then you should talk to them. And Rainbow Dash, they can't really be that bad." Fluttershy nodded, "Everything will be fun."

The day, Fluttershy readied her home for her families arrival. Fluttershy seemed conflicted on whether or not she wanted her friends to stay for the visit, but decided they should meet them.  
>When Fluttershy's family arrived, her friends were more than a little surprised. "Fluttershy! It's been awhile hasn't it?" Spring Breeze, Fluttershy's sister said. Spring Breeze was... not Fluttershy. When everyone had seen that Pinkie's sister was her opposite, they'd been surprised. When they saw that Fluttershy's sister was a ditzy, easy going, perpetually sleepy mare with a pillow shaped cloud for a cutie mark, they were confused.<br>"Yes, it sure has Spring Breeze." Fluttershy seemed slightly happier to see her sister than her father.  
>"I see you're still living on land." Fluttershy's dad, Torrent, said.<br>Torrent was a tall, strong looking colt with a hurricane cutie mark. "I'll never understand it."  
>As the day went on, Fluttershy's friends tried to keep quiet as they learned that Spring Breeze's only aspiration was a nap on a soft cloud. Torrent, they learned, was a retired captain of a weather patrol. He'd always tried to train his children to be expert fliers. As a result, though she showed no sigh of it, Spring Breeze could take out a hurricane single hoofed.<br>Fluttershy on the other hand, obviously, hadn't taken to the training. "Its too bad really. You had a lot of potential, didn't you dear?" Torrent said. Fluttershy nodded in response, holding her hoof up to stop Rainbow Dash from saying anything.  
>"Your doing good down here Fluttershy." Spring Breeze commented, clearly trying to easy the tension. Unfortunately, the comment caused Torrent to chuckle ans say, "Yes, as well as any pegasis can do on the ground." Spring Breeze flinched, realizing her mistake.<br>To her credit, Fluttershy did a good job of keeping her friends quiet. All it took was one look. She wasn't using the stare, but she might as well have been. This was an especially impressive feat, considering the presence of Discord.  
>By the time dinner came around, Discord was practically grinding his teeth, using all the will power he could muster not to discord Torrent at every sentence.<br>Everything managed to stay together, until Spring Breeze made another mistake. "So, you actually reformed Discord? That's amazing!" She said. Torrent nodded, "I agree, you've always had a way with lost causes."

There was a moment of silence, and then Rainbow Dash, Discord, Torrent, Spring Breeze, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack all began screaming at once. Twilight did her best to calm them down, but then she noticed that Fluttershy wasn't inside anymore.  
>After some searching, Twilight found Fluttershy crying softly at the edge of forest. "They always get like this." Fluttershy said when she noticed Twilight approaching. Not knowing what to say, Twilight asked a question that had been bothering her. "Fluttershy, where's your mom?"<br>One look at Fluttershy told Twilight she shouldn't have asked. "Mom... didn't like the arguing either. She... left. We haven't seen her since." Twilight was shocked, but before she could say anything, Fluttershy started to sing.

"_Its hard too, remember, summer, or winter, when she hasn't been there for me. A friend and companion, who I can always, depend on; my mother, that's who I need. A teacher a seeker, a both arms outreacher, my mother, that's who I need. I wish I could slow down the hooves of time, and remember the way that things were, so that I could pretend, that I was still with her. Love and laughter, and here ever after, is all that she says that she needs, a friend and companion, I can always depend on, my mother, that's who I need. My mother that's who I need. That's who... I... need."_

Twilight, was about to say something, but Torrent beat her to it, "Fluttershy, that was... amazing."  
>Fluttershy turned around in shock to see Torrent, Spring Breeze, and all Fluttershy's friends standing only a few feet away.<br>"I, didn't know you still thought about mom," Spring Breeze said, "I do too." "So do I." Torrent admitted.  
>Fluttershy, trying to salvage the evening, led everyone back to the cottage to finish dinner.<br>Torrent, unbeknownst to anypony else, was making a conscious effort not to say anything that could be an insult. As a result, he barely said two words the entire rest of the evening. Spring Breeze, unsure of how to handle the situation and not having enough energy to figure it out, just did as she always did.  
>Before they left, Torrent turned to Fluttershy and started to say something, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. So, he just said, "We... really should keep in touch."<br>Fluttershy smiled, "We really should." And then they left,.  
>A moment later, something occurred to Fluttershy, "What were you all doing outside?"<br>discord smiled nervously, "Well, I may or may not have thrown Torrent out a window."

**AN: Let me be perfectly clear, before you write your comment, I know. I know the story is disjointed, I know the structure is far passed broken, I know it's more text then dialogue, I know it could have, has, and will be done better. I know this episode will likely never be even almost cannon. But its an episode that needed to air, and I stand by it. Now, if you want to make the episode better, I actively encourage it. If you do, send me a link.  
><strong>

**PS: I find it works better if you imagine a montage of Fluttershy's memories with her mom during the song.**

**PPS: I've been considering making a pre-canon fic to fit this episode. Thoughts?**


	16. episode 16

**To Just Be Me**

It had been a trying week. Rarity was hit with triple orders from three different clients; Rainbow Dash had discovered just how difficult it was to balance her weather control job with her Wonderbolts training; and the Apples had received an order from Manehatten for over four-thousand apples.  
>Even when the work eventually got done, it was difficult to decompress after so much work. So, to combat this, Rarity had planned a day of relaxation for herself, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.<br>Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hesitant, but after a promise that there wouldn't be any fru-fru (and an all-out hissy fit) they reluctantly agreed.

Twilight, surprising no pony, was working on a spell. It had occurred to her that, as an alicorn, she had access to magic she couldn't have hoped to reach as a unicorn.  
>She recalled Trixie's second visit to Ponyville. The Alicorn amulet had given Trixie the power to cast incredible spells; including an age spell. While such a spell would have been far out of Twilight's reach before, now she was determined to master it.<p>

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had run out of ideas. So, they decided to find more in books from the library. They decided they'd ask Twilight which books they should read, considering that she'd practically built the library herself.  
>On the way there, the Crusaders met up with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack who were on their way to see if Twilight wanted to join them.<p>

Twilight was working with complete peace and quiet. She'd sent Spike out because she didn't want to accidently cast the aging spell on him and end up repeating the dragon rampage that had been his last birth day.  
>She was focused on aging a seed, with no soil or water, into a fruit tree. She focused her magic carefully aiming her horn at the seed, preparing to fire.<br>At that moment, the flung open, "Hey Twilight!"  
>Twilight jerked her head toward the voice on instinct. The magical blast she'd prepared fired, enveloping the Crusaders and her friends.<br>Glowing silhouettes from the six ponies swapped, and when the smoke cleared, Twilight's jaw dropped.  
>Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had been reduced to fillies, while Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom had grown.<br>Twilight had swapped their ages.

"Why do we have to look after them?" Scootaloo whined. "Because your minds have changed to match your age. They can't think like they used to and your minds have matured," Twilight explained, "I'd watch them myself, but I have to find a spell to undo this. Just make sure they don't get into any trouble." Twilight said, leaving the newly aged Cutie Mark Crusaders to look after the newly youthened Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were less than pleased with the situation, as the aging spell had not given them their Cutie Marks.

They decoded it was best they hide out at Rarity's, less chance of being disturbed that way. No sooner than Sweetie Belle opened the door, did the three young counter parts charge inside, giggling.  
>"Hey! Watch it!" Sweetie Belle shouted after them as they ran into Rarity's room.<br>As Twilight had said, their minds had changed to match their age, and as such, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were far more concerned with their game then the age problem.

Rarity was the cop and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the robbers. They ran around the room making fight noises, until they all landed in separate piles of Rarity's work supplies.  
>Rarity had planned to clean up the left over supplies, but for obvious reasons, had never gotten to it.<p>

But they weren't work supplies any more. Now, they were the towers of the three generals. The three generals were at war, and had to make sure that their tower didn't fall.  
>Rarity fired a cannon ball. A ball of yarn narrowly missed Applejack. Rainbow Dash threw a spear. A ruler wedged into the pile of fabric Rarity was perched on.<br>The war raged on, until the piles of fabric collapsed.  
>"Be careful girl!" Apple Bloom shouted as she and the Crusaders moved to clean up the mess of fabric. The three fillies were upset about their fallen forts at first, until they saw the empty waste basket.<p>

But it wasn't a waste basket, it was a pirate ship. Rarity stirred, Rainbow Dash was in the crows nest keeping look out… well… Applejack pushed the basket.  
>Rainbow Dash signaled Rarity, pointing to the cat-like sea monster rising from the water, its tentacles writhing in anger. Opal, long strands of strings and fabric clinging to her fur, eyed the three fillies, suspicious of their intentions.<br>The Crusaders had to rush in to pull Opal, angered from having a throw pillow cannon ball fired at her, away from Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.  
>"Leave Opal alone!" Sweetie Belle told them as she put the waste basket away. The three fillies were upset at first, but then Rarity directed their attention to the kitchen timer on the counter top.<p>

A tumble weed rolled across the dusty ground of the old western town. Rarity, a sheriff in a western's vest, took her position, as did Rainbow Dash, an Indian wearing a feather head band, and Applejack, an outlaw in her trusty hat.  
>The Kitchen timer ticked away, and the three glanced at the clock tower. High noon was approaching. The three brandished their weapons as the seconds ticked away. The tension grew as noon approached.<br>The timer rang. Rarity moved first, throwing a horseshoe. Applejack dodged the plastic toy and tossed her lasso to try and trap the Indian.  
>Rarity hid behind a rock as Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged fire. Arrows, spears, hay bales, it was madness. With no idea what else to do, Rarity hesitantly levitated a boulder into the air and tossed it at random.<p>

The sponge hit Twilight, who had just walked through the front door, gently on the back; causing her to look around curiously.  
>"What took so long!?" Scootaloo questioned. "It took longer than I expected to find the right spell. I'm sorry, again." Twilight said, grinning nervously.<br>Twilight had the Crusaders, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack stand in a youth, aged, youth, aged pattern. She focused her magic on the ponies in front of her, a bright pink wave of age magic spreading out in front of her.  
>There was a shimmer over the ponies, and when the light died down, everypony had returned to their proper age.<br>"Well, I can't say this was what I had in mind, but I certainly had fun." Rarity giggled, levitating a feather from the Indian head band into Rainbow Dash's hair.

"**When you are a kid on the playground and someone tells you that the floor is lava, the floor is lava. There's no need to question the logic or wonder why."**

** -Vsauce3 (portals)**

**AN: Ah, a filler episode. You know, I don't usually like writing filler, but I like this one. It sort of has a mini lesson.**

**PS: check out the animation that inspired this episode, 'Just be me' on youtube by AgrolChannel**


	17. episode 17

**AN: We've hit 3,000 views people!**

**A Long Forgotten Debt**

Applejack's day started as all her days did; with her out apple bucking in the orchard. Applejack's life was, when it wasn't being disturbed, simple. She knew this and took pride in it.  
>Unfortunately, Applejack's life never stayed undisturbed for long. Applejack could tell something wasn't right from the moment she started her days work. She didn't know what it was, but knew something would come. With no idea what it was, and thus no way to prepare for it, she continued her work and resigned to let whatever it was come to her.<br>She made it through most of the day with no trouble. But then, at half passed four, she heard it. She groaned, she could recognize the sound of that ramshackle contraption anywhere.  
>"Ah, it's good to be back in town, brother wouldn't you agree?" Flim asked. "That I would brother, there's so much still to see!" Flam said. "And now that we've got a new gig we'll have money to spare." Flim said as a small crowd of mostly ignored ponies began to form. "It'll be good to finally get some fresh air!"<br>"What are you two con-ponies doin' here?" Applejack questioned. Flim and Flam glanced at each other, grinning. "I'm glad that you asked Applejack, it was the darndest thing." "And when we figured it out, we knew we still had business to bring!" "So we rushed back fast as we could to meet the youth." "So we could meet and share the truth!"  
>"Enough of that, talk sense." Applejack demanded. "Certainly dearie, you see, we're here for our farm." Flim said. "What'd ya mean, yer farm?" Applejack questioned.<br>"Oh its quite simple really. Do you recall the bet we made when we first came to Ponyville?" Flam asked. "Yeah, and I remember we ran you out of town." Applejack said.  
>"No exactly. After reviewing the transcript, I occurred to us. We won that bet, but when they populous rejected our product, we left. That, I'll admit was rash of us." Flim said. "In our haste, we'd forgotten that we owned a whole farm's worth of perfectly fine apples we could have made cider from. We owned the farm then, and we still do now." Flam explained.<br>Applejack's eyes widened, "That-that ain't true." "Oh contraire," Flim said, "We won the bet, and from that moment, Sweet Apple Acres belonged to us. And now, we're here to claim our property."  
>Applejack stared in disbelief, "Ya can't be serious." "Oh we're quite serious, I assure you," Flam said, "Your more than welcome to continue working on our farm, provided you pay us promptly." "And pay us for the profits made in our absence." Flim added.<p>

"This just ain't right!" Applejack lamented for the fourth time as she angrily bucked an apple tree, "Sweet Apple Acres is our farm!" "Yep." Big Mac agreed, nodding. "We have to do something. Maybe you can get Twilight to do something." Apple Bloom suggested, collecting the stray apples that had hit the ground instead of the bucket. "No, no, that wouldn- Apple Bloom, you're a genius!" Applejack said. Apple Bloom smiled, "I Know."

Flim and Flam were counting bits when Applejack, along with Twilight, entered their room. "Ah, princess Twilight, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Flim asked. "It has come to my attention," Twilight said, putting on her best regal persona, "That an unfair transaction has taken place."  
>"Oh? What would this be?" Flam asked. "The two of you took control of Sweet Apple Acres under the pretense of a bet you won, correct?" Twilight questioned. "Yes, you were there." Flim reminded her. "This bet was made with no official documents signed. The limit for an obligation based on a verbal agreement is one year exactly, which has already passed." Twilight and Applejack smiled triumphantly.<br>"All this is true, but," Flim said, "This deal was not made within the limits Ponyville. It was made on the farm."  
>"A verbal obligation made on property outside town limits, even by a few inches, lasts ten years, so long as it directly concerns the property itself." Flam finished.<br>Twilight opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. They were right. "Past experiences have taught us it's best to be very aware of the law." Flim said, smirking.  
>Applejack and Twilight deflated, their excitement killed by the Flim Flam brothers loophole. The Flim Flam brothers truly owned Sweet Apple Acres.<p>

"I-I'm sorry." Twilight said later. "It's not your fault, ya tried." Applejack said dejectedly. "This is crazy, they shouldn't be able to just take your farm!" Rainbow Dash fumed. "Yeah well, they do." Applejack said.  
>"What are you guys going to do?" Fluttershy asked. "I guess we're going to keep working at the farm. Flim and Flam said we could stay in our house… so long as we pay a fee."<p>

"Pay a fee? That's simply ridiculous." Rarity said. Applejack nodded.  
>'This is terrible. What are we going to do? What would they think?' Applejack wondered. Then she got an idea. It was a desperate idea, and one she didn't like very much; but it was the only idea she had left, short of just bucking Flim and Flam out of the town. Applejack took a deep breath and went to talk to Flim and Flam.<p>

Applejack confronted Flim and Flam while they were in the middle of some promotional stunt. They seemed annoyed, though they weren't about to let in show in front of potential customers.

"What's on your mind Applejack?" Flim questioned with a fake smiled. "There was a problem with our deal." Applejack said calmly.  
>"I'm fairly certain we already put this matter to rest." Flam said with a bored expression. "No, there was another problem." Applejack said.<br>"Oh? And what would it be?" Flim questioned, interested. "When we made the bet, we shouldn't have, because the farm wasn't ours to give away." Applejack said.  
>"It wasn't?" Flam asked, confused. "Nope. The farm didn't really belong to us." Applejack explained. "Then, pray tell, who did it belong to?" Flim asked.<br>Applejack hesitated for a moment, then said, "It belonged to our parents."  
>This statement silenced all the onlookers, who understood the weight of Applejack's words. Flim and Flam, who were not from Ponyville, didn't understand.<br>"Well then where are they?" Flam questioned. "They… aren't around anymore." The brothers were about to question Applejack, when they saw the looks on the townspony's faces. Part of being a con artist was being able to read a face, and the expressions on the townsponyies told them all they needed to know.

"Oh. Well… we didn't know that." Flim said. Applejack nodded, "I know you didn't. But, now that you do, do you understand why we can't let you take their farm away?"  
>Flim and Flam were silent. They were con-ponies with simple lives. They rarely, if ever, had to deal with the principles of right and wrong. And, as such, rarely ever put much emotional thought into their actions. But perhaps, the thought, there was a first time for everything.<p>

"Upon further consideration, we have decided to let you keep the farm." Flim said. "There are simply too many places left to visit to stay here, you'd be doing us a favor by taking it off our hooves." Flam added.  
>"Glad to help." Applejack smiled. She waved goodbye as the Flim Flam brothers rode off in their contraption. She didn't know if they'd actually changed, or if returning the farm had been a one-time thing. But she liked to believe that, from that day on, the brothers always thought just a little bit harder about the way the conducted their business.<p>

**AN: Yes I went there.**

**PS: I never really thought of Flim and Flam as bad guys. Maybe because they never show any malicious intent, or maybe because anything that sings songs that catchy can't be all bad.**


	18. episode 18

**Trick Question**

The Cutie Mark Crusaders hadn't been doing as much crusading recently as they used to. Between Apple Bloom helping Rarity, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo practicing their singing and stunts respectively, they just hadn't had a whole lot of time.

But they had time now, and, in the last two hours, they'd checked ten things off their list. Eventually, they decided to try their hooves at writing. Apple Bloom tried to write a fantasy, Sweetie Belle tried to write a romance, and Scootaloo tried to write a horror.

After a few hours, the Crusaders determined that none of them would be winning any awards for bestselling novels any time soon. Despite this, Scootaloo's horror story about a ghost pony had managed to scare Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, not that either of them were willing to admit it. The two tried to play it off like the story hadn't affected them. But Scootaloo, who knew firsthoof what it looked like when a pony was faking, saw through the act.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone how much I scared you with my story." Scootaloo smirked. "We're not scared!" Apple Bloom said defensively. "Yeah! We're too brave to get scared of something like that." Sweetie Belle agreed. This caused Scootaloo to laugh, which naturally resulted in an all-out argument between the three.

The three fillies were so wrapped up in their little argument that they didn't notice the tall gray earth pony watching them with a grin, "Would you look at that," He said quietly to himself, "It's almost like the targets are lining up for me."

"Okay! Let's just agree that we're all to brave to get scared! Alright?" Sweetie Belle shouted, trying to put an end to the dispute. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded their agreement. "Well hello Crusaders!" The three fillies turned to see a tall gray earth pony with a cheesier cat grin cutie mark and a matching grin on his face.

"Who are you? And how'd you know we were the Crusaders?" Apple Bloom questioned. "To answer your questions in order, I am Tom Foolery and not too long ago, you plastered your title across the sky with what I can only assume were homemade fireworks." Tom answered. The Cutie Mark Crusaders blushed at the mention of their previous failure at pyrotechnics. "I've heard from the townsponies that you're out to get your marks. Would you like to know how I got mine?" Tom asked.

"Sure!" Scootaloo said, eager for anything that would help her get her cutie mark. "I got my cutie mark the day I was asked a question with no answer." "A question with no answer?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yep, like, for example, how much does a shadow weigh? What is the worth of age? You see? A question with no answer." Tom explained.

"Oh I get it! Like, um, how does magic taste?" Apple Bloom put in. "Or how long does it take a rock to count to ten." Sweetie said. "Exactly." Tom nodded. "Or how tall is the boogeypony?" Scootaloo said. Tom looked at Scootaloo in confusion, "Because the boogeypony isn't real." Scootaloo explained. Tom chuckled, "Oh please, of course the boogeypony is real. Haven't you heard the song?" Tom asked. "What song?" The Crusaders asked, almost simultaneously. Tom grinned, and cleared his throat.

"_Fillies have you ever met the boogeypony before? No of course you haven't, for your much too good I'm sure. Don't you be afraid if he should visit you, he's a great big coward so I'll tell you what to do._

_Hush, hush, hush, boogeypony has a plan, don't let him get too close to you, he'll catch you if he can. Just pretend, that you're a crocodile, you see the boogeypony turn a run a mile. Say 'shoo, shoo', and stick him with a pin, boogeypony will very nearly jump out of his skin. Say 'buzz, buzz', just like a wasp that stings, boogeypony will think you are an elephant with wing. Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogeypony.  
>Tell him that, you've got soldiers in your bed, for he will never guess they are only made of led. Say, 'hush, hush', he'll think that you're asleep. If you made a lovely snore, away he'll softly creep. When the scary shadow spread out across the sky, and your loving family comes to sing you a lullaby, tell them that the boogeypony no longer frightens you; Tom Foolery has very kindly told you what to do. Hush, hush, hush, boogeypony has a plan. Don't let him get to close to you, he'll catch you if he can.<br>Just pretend, that your teddy bears a dog. Then shout out 'fetch him teddy!' and he'll hop off like a frog. Say 'meow', he'll think that you're a cat. He'll worry that you'll scratch him, that will make him fall down flat. Just pretend, he isn't really there, you will find that boogeypony will vanish in thin air.  
>Here's one way, to catch him without fail: just keep a little salt with you and put it on his tail."<br>_The Crusaders stared at Tom Foolery for a moment, confused. Tom only smiled and started to walk away. "Be safe little fillies, you never know what kind of dangers your crusading might bring."

Tom continued on his way until he seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving the Crusaders that much more confused. "That guy was weird." Sweetie Belle said. Nopony, not even Tom himself, disagreed.

The next morning Apple Bloom pulled Scootaloo away from her practice. "Somethin's wrong with Sweetie Belle." She said. "What is it?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm not sure, she said she wanted to wait until she could talk to both of us."  
>When they got to the club house, Scootaloo could plainly see that something was in fact wrong. Sweetie Belle had bags under her eyes, like she hadn't slept, and she kept looking behind her, like she thought something was going to sneak up on her.<br>"What happened to you?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle looked around again, then turned to her friends. "L-last night... I-I saw... him." Sweetie said hesitantly. "Him who?" Apple Bloom asked.  
>Sweetie Belle waited for a moment, considering whether or not she should continue, the said, "T-the boogeypony."<p>

"Your joking right?" Scootaloo said with a cheeky smile, "The big bad boogeypony visited you and now he's going to come after us right?" "This isn't a joke!" Sweetie Belle snapped, then checked her surroundings again. "Last night, after I went to bed, I saw him in the shadows. I thought my mind was just playing tricks on me, but then he started to move. He ran across the room, holding still whenever I looked directly at him. When I realized he was trying to get closer to me, I called for Rarity."

"What'd she say?" Apple Bloom asked. "What do you think? 'It was just a bad dream Sweetie dear, now please go back to sleep.' When she left, he came back. I didn't sleep last night." Sweetie explained.

"Sweetie Belle, the boogeypony isn't real." Scootaloo told them. "I'm not lying!" Sweetie snapped again. "I'm not saying your lying, you just thought you saw him. It was probably what that weird guy from yesterday said. It freaked you out so you thought you saw the boogeypony, that's all." Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle didn't buy it, and the next morning, neither did Apple Bloom.

"Sweetie was right," Apple Bloom told her friends shaking, "I saw him." "Oh come on, this is all in your heads. There is no boogeypony!" Scootaloo said, trying to convince her friends. "Then how do you explain both of us seeing it?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Easy, your both scardy-ponies." Scootaloo joked, remembering the times they'd said the same to her.  
>But that night, just as Scootaloo started to fall asleep, she saw him to. Tall; taller than any pony should ever be. His eyes seemed to shift from red, yellow, green, and pure black. She couldn't make out any of his features, to dark.<p>

"We told you!" Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom said in unison when Scootaloo told them about her encounter. "I know, you were right," Scootaloo admitted, "What do we do?"

"Well, nopony will believe us if we say we've seen the boogeypony, so getting help is out. What we need is to find out if there's a way to get rid of him for good." Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom gasped, "There is! Don't you remember the song? Tom was trying to warn us!"  
>The Crusaders spent the next hour trying to remember the words of the song. Once they'd done that, they had to sift through it to find all the things that could help them. They were going to fight the boogeypony.<p>

Sweetie Belle got the first opportunity. When she saw the boogeypony dashing through the darkness, she held her forelegs out like a crocodiles jaws, opened them, and slammed them shut while making a teeth nashing sound. The boogeypony let out a silent shriek and tore away.

The next night it was Apple Bloom's turn. She borrowed one of Granny Smith's knitting needles, said 'shoo, shoo' and poked the boogeypony. The result was the boogeypony leaping out of her window in fright.

Then came Scootaloo, who made a buzzing noise and flapped wings for effect. The boogeypony, presumably thinking that Scootaloo had spontaneously transformed into a winged elephant, all but jumped through the roof trying to get away.

It seemed to be working, but then he returned to Sweetie Bell's. Despite being scared off, the boogeypony wasn't breaking his pattern. "We can't keep this up forever." Scootaloo said. "We won't have to," Apple Bloom said defiantly, "We're putting a stop to this tonight!"  
>The Crusaders had it all planned out. They would sleep over at Apple Bloom's, as she was next in the pattern, and wait for the boogeypony. When he arrived, they'd scare him so bad that he'd never risked returning to Ponyville!<p>

The room was filled with anxiety as the three fillies waiting for the boogeypony. They'd set everything up, so there was nothing left to do but wait. Then, at almost midnight, he appeared. His tall silhouette becoming visible in the shadow.

They didn't scare him then and there, they'd learned from him that things were much scarier when they came from nowhere. They let him get a foot away from Apple Bloom's bed. And then... she snored. It was a fake snore of course, but the boogeypony didn't know that.

Disappointed, the boogeypony began to creep away. When he was about to cross Scootaloo, she jumped up and shouted, "I've got soldiers in my bed!" The boogeypony looked at the small plastic toy fighting stallions and recoiled in terror. Before he could get out the door, Scootaloo through a stuffed bear at him, shouting "Fetch him teddy!" as she did so.  
>Not wanting to get bitten or face the soldiers, the boogeypony headed for the window behind Apple Bloom's bed. Just as he approached the bed, Apple Bloom jumped up, shouting "Meow!" in her best cat imitation.<p>

It was all to much, the boogeypony sank to the floor in horror. Delighted at their victory, Scootaloo went to get Applejack so they could prove that the boogeypony was real, but when she did, the boogeypony pounced. He grabbed Scootaloo and headed for the window. Sweetie Belle tried to stop him, only to get picked up as well as he charged to the window.

Apple Bloom looked on in horror as her friends were being carried away. 'There in danger, I have to help!' Apple Bloom was terrified, but she knew that was no excuse. She grabbed her fail-safe: a salt shaker she'd hid under her pillow.

She charged the boogeypony just before he reached the window, knocking him and her friends to the ground. Moving fast, she gripped the salt shaker with her mouth and started to sprinkle it in every direction, only hoping that it landed on his tail.

And then Sweetie Belle turned the lights on; the boogeypony was nothing more than a lifeless pile of salt on the floor.

"Apple Bloom that was amazing! Weren't you afraid?" Scootaloo asked. "Of course I was," Apple Bloom said, knowing that she could easily say that she hadn't been scared and choosing to ignored the fact, "But I couldn't just let him take you."  
>"What in tarnation is going on?" Applejack asked as she entered the room. "It's okay Applejack, we're not afraid of the boogeypony anymore." Apple Bloom told her sister. "Really?" Applejack asked absentmindedly, more focused on the pile of salt on the floor. "Really. Tom Foolery very kindly told us what to do." That got Applejack's attention.\<p>

"**Courage isn't never being afraid, a fool is never afraid. Courage is taking action despite your fear."**

**AN: Well, this was a long one. Did anyone catch the head cannon-faughter from Tom Foolery? **


	19. episode 19

**AN: I told my friend about this chapter before I started writing it. He regarded me the way one regards someone who has just climbed to the top of a tall building and is threatening to jump. 'No don't do it!' he seemed to say, 'there are people who care about you and want you to finish writing Twilight goes to Gregory House!' as though this chapter were some sort of author suicide attempt. I thought he was full of it at first. But after writing, re-writing, re-re-writing, and re-writing again, I think he might have been right.**

**To Whom It May Concern**

The research team had been studying things left behind by king Sombra for months and found nothing. Then they discovered a room, hidden deep underground, buried with hundreds of pounds of rock, ice, and magic crystal. Once they removed it, they found that it was empty, except for a single journal.  
>"It must have been Sombra's personal journal." The archeologist, Paleo Tologiest said, opening the book. He read the pages in silence for a few moments before turning to his comrades, "We must inform Princess Cadence of this at once, and princess Twilight as well. We may have just re-wrote the history books."<p>

"Sombra's personal notebook?" Twilight asked, intrigued. "Indeed. It records his travels before he came to power," Paleo said, "it Appears that he was not always known as king Sombra." "What do you mean?" Twilight asked. "It… is best you read for yourself princess." Paleo said, leaving the room.  
>Twilight didn't know what could be in the book that would have the archeologist pony so rattled, but knew how to find out. She levitated the book to herself, and began to read.<p>

_To whom it may concern,  
>If you are reading this, I can only assume that me and my family have passed. We certainly seem to dreading that way, with the dreadful conditions in which me, my wife Elegance, and our two daughters have been forced to travel.<br>It has been just under a month since we were forced to leave our homeland by those horrid storms, and frankly, compared to this cold, I think we should have stayed. I have elected to chronicle our travels in this journal. If we survive, we will have record of our journey. If not, whom ever finds whats left of us will know what brought us to this point.  
>The ice of this place is maddening, but there is little I can do other than summon a small dome of crystal with my magic.<br>-Clear-Cut_

"Daddy, why is it so cold here?" The young filly questioned upon entering the crystalline igloo that her father had constructed with his magic. "You know, it's just a guess, but I believe it may have something to do with all the ice and snow on the ground." Clear-Cut joked.  
>The filly laughed and shook the snow out of her coat. "Clear," Elegance said after their daughters were out of ear shot, "We can't survive much longer in this cold. We have to do something." Clear-Cut nodded, "Tonight I'll try to use my crystals to find something resembling civilization. If I can find anything, I should be able to move our little fortress to it without waking any of you. You'd all wake up with a town at your hooves."<br>"Must all your work take place at night?" Elegance asked, "Will we never see you casting your spells?" "There's more magic to work with when the sun is down." Clear-Cut explained. "It must be murder to never get a full night's sleep. No rest for my king of the shadows." Elegance said yawning, going to tuck the girls in.

_That night I discovered two things; both incredible.  
>The first was the small village my family woke up to the next morning. It was filled with a new race of ponies we'd never seen before. They are a quiet lot. Their bodies seem comprised of dull stone. Aside from that, they seem just like ordinary earth ponies.<br>The second was a book. I found it incased within a crystal, buried under the snow and ice. I know not the whereabouts of the books former owner, but I can only assume that they did not reach the village. The book depicts strange magic. Powerful and dark. It was one of the simpler spells in this book that led me to the village, a sort or navigation spell I suppose; it was as if the shadows themselves were directing me. I do not know where this book came from, nor do I understand why I was stricken with visions of darkness and whispers upon opening it, but I intend to find out._

"Daddy, can I play with the statue ponies?" Clear-Cut's daughter asked. Clear-Cut looked up from his black leather bound book and rubbed his eyes, "I don't see why not. Just don't wonder too far and be careful. Look after your sister." The filly nodded and darted outside. Clear-Cut returned to his book.  
>"You haven't done a thing but read that book since we got here." Elegance said, seeing that Clear-Cut was still wrapped in the book. "It's just so… fascinating. The magic in here could rival the princesses." Clear-Cut said.<br>Elegance rolled her eyes, "Careful Clear, if you say things like that, ponies talk, word spreads, and before you know it, soldiers of the royal army are at our door step."  
>Before Clear-Cut could make a witty retort, their daughters burst through the doors. "Daddy! Mommy! The statue pony is sick!"<p>

_We arrived in that village at exactly the wrong time. Some sort of plaque appears to be spreading. When the statue ponies catch it, they collapse.  
>Then they go into some sort of metamorphosis, wrapped in cocoons of light. At first, I thought that we were safe, that it didn't affect you if you weren't a statue pony. Then, just a few days ago, another group of travelers came to the village.<br>It only took a few hours for them to catch the disease. I used my magic to form a crystal barrier to keep my family safe. I fear that it was not enough._

Clear-Cut paced back and forth through the crystalline cavern. His family was afraid, and he didn't know what to do. He stopped pacing as he noticed his book. 'Maybe… maybe there's something in the book that can cure the sickness. Or at least make us immune.'

_I threw myself into my reading, trying to find something that could help. The more I read, the fuzzier my mind became. My sense of time is… warping. I keep forgetting why I even started reading, I get so consumed in the pages that I forget where I even am.  
>Earlier today, I saw some sort of figure standing in the shadows. I couldn't make out any features, only a pair of glowing red eyes. I lashed out at the figure. Fired bolts of magic, summoned crystals for battle, but nothing seemed to affect it.<br>I have no idea how long it was before my family made me realize that the figure was only an image in my head.  
>My oldest daughter, Flecks, got her cutie mark today. Her talent is reality distortion. She fazed right through the wall. I don't know who was more surprised, her, or her mother when she fell out of the cupboard.<em>

"Clear, you have to stop reading that book." Elegance said. Clear-Cut snapped his head up. It had been morning when he'd started reading, but now it was dark, and seemed to have been so for a while.  
>"There are only about a hundred or so pages left, I must be close to the answer." Clear-Cut said. "That infernal book has brought nothing but hardship!" Elegance snapped, all the frustration she'd bottled up coming to the surface. Clear-Cut looked at her, astonished. "How do you mean?"<br>"It was that book that led us here. It was that book that has had you out of your wits. It may have even been that book that caused the sickness!" Elegance looked at the book the way one might look at an unknown insect covered in slime.  
>"Flecks thinks that she has a way to get us away from this village," Elegance said, keeping her voice calm, "She thinks she can use her powers to transport us away from this place." Clear-Cut shook his head, "She isn't strong enough to gets far enough away. It's far too dangerous." Elegance turned and left the room, slamming the door in frustration. Clear-Cut returned to his reading.<p>

_They must have left while I was asleep, because I never heard anything. It's possible that I was too deep into the shadows too sense Flecks summoning her portal. I can hear my family, an old spell of Elegance's that let her send messages into another's dreams. She whispers of a world of light. A land of friendship and happiness. I can hardly believe that such a place exists after so long in the shadows. I've noticed that, as I get closer to the end of the book, everything seems to darken. I hear… voices from within the shadows.  
>I do not know what will happen when I read the last spell in the book, I'm afraid of whatever is happening to my mind. And yet, I cannot stop reading.<em>

Twilight turned the page, and was surprised to see that the rest of the pages seemed to be in the form of letters.

_Dear family, it's been so long since I last saw you. I've waited by the portal where you vanished every day, just hoping that you might return. I'm afraid I'm running out of time, so I've written you these letters in the hopes that one day, you might read them. Love Clear-Cut._

_Dear family, what did you mean, when you said you'd found a world, unlike any I've ever seen. A place filled with love and light that illuminates the world. If it's real, it sound like a great place, for our little girls. Dear family._

_The world has changed so much since you left. There's hardly anypony left that hasn't gotten sick. But I've discovered something truly amazing. This book had given me new, incredible powers. I can control shadows and summon crystals stronger than any I've ever made before. Maybe I can save them, maybe somehow, I can preserve this world._

Clear-Cut paced through his home, the dark figure, his armor now visible, followed close behind. He didn't mind the figure now; he was his only company these days. Clear-Cut was getting worse and worse at separating reality from nightmare, and his awareness of it didn't help. He'd kept the shadows at bay for a long time, but he couldn't hold back any longer.

_Dear family, this is good bye, please don't cry, when I cast the last spell… I… will… die…_

_Oh family, please remember me. You'll be alright; I'll make sure of that. But me… well, just keep on living for me. Love Clear-Cut._

Twilight closed the book. She wasn't sure what to make of this. She couldn't help but notice the similarities between Sombra's book and the book that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon and corrupted prince Blueblood.  
>Twilight opened her history books, searching for any record of a pony named Elegance or Flecks.<p>

A very old and weary Flecks opened the door. There was nopony there, but there was a journal left on the ground. Flecks recognized the book from somewhere, though she didn't know where. She opened the book, and began to read.

**AN: If there are any of you who haven't flamed, dislike, un-favorited, blocked, flagged, and burned down your computer, I'd like to say that I do plan to continue this story in a different fanfiction.  
>'Webhead! You mentioned death! That cannot happen in a kids show!' Legend of Korra and Avatar the Last Air bender throw it out left and right. <strong>

**By the way, with the end drawing near, I'm wondering whether I should put up the finally in one up-date a week like all the other chapters or put all the parts up at the same time like is done with the actual show. **


	20. episode 20

**AN: My friends, we've reached 4,000 views. And on the twentieth episode no less. So, in celebration...**

**Shadows of Nightmare Moon**

Nightmare Moon looked over all the lands she'd conquered. She ruled half of Equestria and even now her troops seized new territory from her sister. She grinned as she watched the ponies scurry through the darkness of night.  
>"We've captured the final providence your highness." A royal bat-pony messenger told her as he landed before her. "And what of my sister?" Nightmare questioned sternly. "The princess of the day has... fallen." The messenger responded.<br>A grin formed beneath Nightmare's helmet. "After so long, I have finally won."

Princess Luna woke with a start. She looked around, spotting the clock. 12: 30 P.M. Luna shook her head, unhappy that her sleep had been disturbed yet again. She could remember having drams like this before, when she was still bound to the moon.  
>Luna yawned, and attempted to return to sleep, knowing that no good could come from her being tired when it came time for her to do her royal duties. She didn't want to repeat what had happened last time she hadn't gotten enough sleep; it wasn't a pretty story.<p>

Celestia touched down, clad in shimmering armor, mere feet from Nightmare Moon. Her sister stood with her back turned, her silver armor glowing in the faint light. "Hello sister, have you finally come to defeat me? To overthrow me in the name of Equestria?" Nightmare asked.  
>"Sister I mean you no malice, I have only come to speak with you." Celestia said. Nightmare chuckled, "And yet you did so wrapped in armor, with troops surrounding me only thirty feet off. A bit much for a sisterly chat."<br>Celestia glared, "I do not mean you harm, but I am no fool. Were I to approach you, unarmed and defenseless, you would simply strike me down; no conversation about it." "Fair enough." Nightmare stated.  
>"Sister, please, you have to stop this. You must know that what you are doing is not right! Even if you can't see the evil behind all this, you have to understand that what you are doing will throw everything off! With no sunlight, the world will freeze!" Celestia pleaded.<br>Nightmare walked slowly over to her sister, and in a quiet voice, said, "So be it." Before unleashing a blast of shadowy magic.

Luna jumped up, shaking from her dream. She turned to the clock again. 2: 14 P.M. This would never do.

Luna, though she did not understand how, managed to raise the moon that night. She was tired from lack of sleep and rattled by the contents of her dreams. She wanted to talk to her sister about it, but was worried. About what, she didn't know, but she was worried none the less.  
>Luna continued her work, traveling through the dreams of her subjects and making sure that everything was in order. She was able to do this relatively effortlessly, as she'd grown used to dream walking after years of practice.<br>Then, a problem arose when Luna attempted to help with a fillies nightmare. In the dream, the filly ran from a shadowy figure chasing her through a maze. Luna felt it necessary to spare the girl the nightmare and flew down to vanquish the monster.  
>But when Luna landed, the figure took form. As Luna looked into its dark shape, it morphed into Nightmare Moon grinning maliciously as she turned and began walking, not towards the filly, but towards Princess Luna.<br>Luna froze in fright for a moment, then turned and flew away from the monster. Luna soared towards the sky, ready to burst out of the dream, but then stopped, mere feet from the edge of the dream. She was the princess of the night, why was she fleeing from a simple filly's dream time bugaboo? She trumped beasties scarier than this every night, and she wasn't about to run away now.  
>Luna turned around to face the beast, which charged through the air towards her, still in the form of Nightmare Moon. Luna cast the spell she always used to dissipate bad dreams. To her surprise, the monster did not vanish; seemingly unaffected by Luna's spell. Luna tried to cast the spell again, but the nightmare crashed into her before she could.<br>Luna desperately fired a blast of magic, causing the nightmare to vanish in a puff of smoke; leaving Luna standing alone on the floor of the dreamscape maze. By now, Luna knew, the filly would have long forgotten about the shadow that had chased her. So in a way, Luna had done her job and could now move on.  
>But the strange occurrences continued. In a nightmare about a sailor in a storm, Luna saw Nightmare Moon's form inside the storm cloud. In a dream about being lost in the desert, she saw her in the swirling sand. Countless times she appeared in the average dark voids of those who were not having dreams that night.<br>Then she even appeared in a dream that wasn't a nightmare. Luna looked over the dream of a colt happily running around a snowy wonderland. All of a sudden, Luna's darker half appeared out of the snow, flying up to challenger her again.

"Sister," Luna called to Celestia that dawn, one of the only times they could normally talk, "I… something isn't right." Celestia looked at her sister in confusion, "How do you mean?" She asked.  
>"I…" Luna started, then stopped. She was afraid of the strange things happening, but didn't want to sound like a filly afraid of the dark.<br>In the end, Luna decided that it was best to speak. She explained her nightmares and encounters in the dreamscape. Celestia listened intently as Luna recounted her night. When all was told, the princess of the day gave her sister a soft smile.  
>"Luna, I can tell you are upset by these oddities, but I do not think you need to be. Your nightmares are, as you have said yourself, a result of our unpleasant experience at the Gala. As for the monster that seems to stalk you during your work, well, I would say that your own nightmares have followed you into the dreamscape, using its power as a way of haunting you further. There is nothing to be worried about, a night's rest, or day's rest rather, will do you well. Goodnight Luna."<br>Luna was slightly embarrassed, but did feel better for having talked to her sister. Luna returned to her bedchambers and tried to sleep.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Maritonian dignitary questioned as Nightmare Moon approached his castle with her army. "It's quite simple really," Nightmare said, "I am her to take this land for myself."  
>"Certainly you know that I cannot allow this!" The dignitary said. "Now, who ever said that I needed your permission?" Nightmare questioned, before signaling her troops to charge.<p>

Luna shot up in her bed, more annoyed than frightened by this point. She could not continue spending her nights like this. So, she came to a simply conclusion. She knew a spell that would temporarily remove her ability to dream. A day or two without dreams wouldn't hurt her, and it would certainly allow her a full day's sleep.  
>Luna quickly recalled the details of the spell and cast it on herself. She didn't feel any different, but of course she wouldn't. Luna returned to her bed and slowly drifted to sleep. As her surroundings faded, Luna could have sworn that she'd a face behind a shimmering silver helmet, but knew that either she was imagining it, or her dream spell hadn't worked. Either way, it was nothing to get worked up about, so she allowed herself to fall asleep.<p>

Nightmare Moon, transparent and wrapped in darkness, looked down at the sleeping princess Luna. _Sleep well, while you still can._

**AN: Two heavy ones in a row, something lighter next time eh?**


	21. episode 21

**AN: Okay, the title sucks; you try and come up with an episode name to fit this concept.**

**Silverless Spoon**

The Cutie Mark Crusaders went to school like they always did. They, more or less, paid attention in class and went through the day. But as they were leaving, because nature just hates it when things go right, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came trotting their way.  
>They did what they always did, taunted. By this point, the Crusaders had learned to take it in stride, like rainfall or school itself, these two bully ponies were just things that happened, no way control it or sneak passed it. That didn't mean it didn't still get very, very annoying.<br>"You two used to be blank flanks to you know!" Scootaloo snapped, wanting them to just shut up. "That's true, but luckily we had the strength and perseverance to overcome that tragic time." Diamond mocked, causing Silver Spoon to laugh.  
>In that instance, Sweetie Belle got an idea. It was an idea that she, and many others, had gotten in the past. It was a fairly obvious idea, but one that no pony had ever tried before for fear of what would happen if it were to fail. Never the less, Sweetie took a shot.<br>"You know Silver Spoon, I don't know why you stick with Diamond. She nasty and mean, but I don't think you are."  
>Silver Spoon just smirks, "Oh pu-lease, like you're really going to get me to turn on my friend." "Better luck next time Blank Flanks!" Diamond laughed as the two walked off.<br>Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "It was a good try." Apple Bloom said. "Yeah, oh well. If she thinks Diamond is a good pony, that's her delusion."  
>As Silver Spoon walked home, she couldn't help but laugh again at the Crusaders attempt to turn her to their side. "As if," She said to herself, "Diamond and I stick together, no matter what." She was completely unaware of the creature watching her from afar, grinning an unnaturally wide grin.<p>

The next day was an event that changed what ponies knew about cutie marks, and clearly not the work of an excitable trickster. A pony had lost their mark. Doctors were baffled, Twilight went berserk trying to figure it out, and ponies everywhere were terrified that the same might happen to them.  
>After some time, it was determined that Silver Spoon's condition was not contagious, and may in fact be a direct result of her families wealth, the very thing that had given Silver Spoon her mark to begin with, collapsing in a bizarre, and in no way supernatural, shift in the economy.<br>Silver Spoon went to school like she always did; only now she was the one on the receiving end of the torment. Silver Spoon had spent so much time helping Diamond Tiara mock the ponies with blank flanks, and now those ponies took their opportunity to do the same to her.  
>Silver Spoon did her best not to let it get to her, knowing that Diamond would defend her against those bully ponies. So she stuck it down, enduring the cruel jokes and blocking out the taunting as she'd seen her own victims do.<br>And then she reached Diamond Tiara. And her longtime friend and ally… ignored her. She didn't make fun of her like the other ponies did, but she didn't defend her either. She just sort of tuned her out, pretended that she wasn't there. Silver Spoon was confused; she didn't understand why Diamond was leaving her defenseless.  
>When school was over, Silver Spoon confronted Diamond to ask her why she'd ignored her all day. Diamond didn't say anything at first; she seemed to be debating whether or not to say anything at all. After a few moments, she did speak.<br>"Sorry about that, but I really can't let myself be associated with you right now, what with your… problem and all. It's nothing personal, really. It's just until it wears off and you get your mark back, okay?"  
>And with that, Diamond Tiara walked away, leaving Silver Spoon alone and dejected. A sense of dread set in as Silver Spoon realized with a shock that she didn't have a single friend to help her.<br>Her dread turned to outright horror as she heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching. Silver Spoon had made fun of them more than any other pony in the school. She could hear them getting closer. She didn't know if she could handle being made fun of by them. She could see them now; oh the terrible things they would say…  
>"Are ya okay Silver Spoon?"<br>It had been Apple Bloom who had asked the question. Silver Spoon looked at them in confusion. "What?" Silver Spoon asked back.  
>"Are you okay?" Scootaloo repeated. "It can't be easy to have your cutie mark just up and vanish like that." "And all the ponies at school were really mean about it." Sweetie Belle added. Silver Spoon didn't understand.<br>"Why are you being nice to be?" She asked. Now it was the Crusaders turn to give her a confused look. "What do you mean?" They asked in unison. "Well, why aren't you being mean to me, like all the others? I made fun of you to." Silver Spoon explained.  
>"So? You're having a bad day, we wanted to help." Scootaloo said. "Yeah, 'two wrongs don't make a right.' Rarity told me that." Sweetie Belle said.<br>Silver Spoon was in awe. She had worked with Diamond Tiara to make the Crusaders miserable. Now Diamond had abandoned her and here the Crusaders stood to try and make her feel better. It wasn't easy logic for her to comprehend.  
>"Oh! I got an idea!" Apple Bloom said. She pulled Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo into a sort of huddle and began talking with them. Silver Spoon watched anxiously as they talked. Whatever Apple Bloom was suggesting, Scootaloo didn't seem to like it. Sweetie Belle looked to be agreeing with Apple Bloom, and after a while, Scootaloo conceded. The three fillies turned to Silver Spoon grinning.<br>"Silver Spoon, how would you like to be a Cutie Mark Crusader?!" Apple Bloom asked.  
>Silver Spoon's jaw dropped. "With your mark gone, we figured you could use some help getting it back." Sweetie Belle said. "I-I…" Silver Spoon was speechless. The Crusaders gave her a hesitant look.<br>"Don't you want to join?"  
>"I… would like that, yes." The Crusaders had already explained why they were being nice to her, but Silver Spoon could still hardly believe it.<br>"Awesome!" Scootaloo cheered, "Now let's get out of here before Pinkie Pire senses that some pony was sad and busts out the party cannon."  
>Not two minutes after they'd left, Pinkie arrived on the scene pulling her party cannon and carrying a plate of cookies.<p>

In the following days, Silver Spoon slowly began to open up to the Crusaders, becoming their friend. It surprised her, the Crusaders, and when the school ponies began bullying Silver Spoon and the Crusaders rushed to her aid, it surprised the school ponies to.  
>Diamond Tiara didn't let on any shock, aside from an initial widening of her eyes when she saw them together. Mostly she just ignored Silver Spoon like she had the first day. She also seemed to be trying to avoid the Crusaders, leading them to believe that, with Silver Spoon on their side, Diamond knew she couldn't handle them.<br>Silver Spoon grew to admire the Crusaders' perseverance. When she'd been a blank flank, the first time around, she gone completely stir crazy. The Crusaders had to, but they just kept on trying, whereas Silver Spoon had simply given up, resigned to a fate of being a blank flank for the rest of her life. Never mind the fact that her mark had appeared the very next day.  
>After about a week, the school ponies stopped picking on Silver Spoon, their good sense finally catching up with the rest of them. It seemed life would go on as they had before, with the key difference of Silver Spoon not being on Diamond Tiara's side.<br>But then, as the ponies were leaving school, it happened. Diamond passed the Crusaders, saying, "Later Blank Flanks," like she always did. She didn't even realize she was doing it; it was pure instinct to her by this point. After she said it, she froze, realizing that she had just deemed her old friend no better than the Crusaders. Diamond wondered for a moment if she should just keep walking, but Silver Spoon wouldn't have it.  
>"You know, I used to think that we were in the right, ragging on the blank flanks. And you know what else, I can't tell you for the life of me why. I guess I just thought it was a good idea to copy you, don't know how I got that into my head."<br>Diamond turned around to face Silver Spoon, her face blank at first, but slowly turning angry. "So this is it, huh? You're siding with them now?" Diamond Indicated the Crusaders. "Why not? There's nothing wrong with them! We've been picking on them for no good reason. And besides, at least I know they won't ditch me just because I'm a blank flank again." Silver Spoon snapped.  
>"No good reason, how can you say that?" Diamond questioned, wondering what the Crusaders had done to her friends sense of logic.<br>"I can say it because it's true! Name one thing you know about them that worth making fun of that isn't them being blank flanks." Silver Spoon challenged. Diamond immediately opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. It occurred to her now that she knew extremely little about the Crusaders.  
>The Crusaders watched in awe of the battle taking place. They'd never seen Silver Spoon defy Diamond like this. It was truly an event that would go down in the history books.<br>Silver Spoon smirked at Diamond's lack of a response. "You see? We were the ones in the wrong; we were making fun of something that they have no control over. I get that now, maybe eventually you'll get it to."  
>And with that, Silver Spoon turned and walked away, followed by the Crusaders, leaving Diamond alone and dejected.<p>

"How did you do that?" Sweetie Belle asked when they got to the clubhouse. "I don't know, I guess I was just telling Diamond what every pony has wanted to tell her." Silver Spoon shrugged. She'd been acting like it was no big deal, but inside she was a mix of excitement and dread.  
>The Crusaders celebrated Silver Spoon's triumph in battle, until Diamond Tiara arrived at the clubhouse.<br>"What are you doing here?" Scootaloo questioned, expecting hostility in return. To the Crusaders' surprise, Diamond just said, "I… wanted to talk to Silver Spoon."  
>"If you want to talk, then talk." Silver Spoon said plainly. Diamond eyes looked over the other Crusaders, then back at Silver Spoon.<br>"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of my _friends." _Silver Spoon said, emphasizing the word 'friends' for effect.  
>Diamond looked uncomfortable, but spoke anyway. "I… I'm sorry for not helping you out. I shouldn't have let those other ponies make fun of you like that." "Then why did you?" Silver Spoon asked. Diamond seemed to flinch, "I don't know. I just… I was afraid. I don't know what I was afraid of, but I was afraid. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense-"<br>"None at all." Silver Spoon said. "Okay, it makes no sense, but it's true. I shouldn't have acted like that; I'm sorry."  
>Silver Spoon wanted to be angry at Diamond, feeling that she deserved it. But she'd heard Diamond give enough fake apologies to know when she was being sincere.<br>"It's okay. Well, it isn't okay, but I forgive you." Silver Spoon said, walking over to her friend. Silver Spoon said goodbye to the Crusaders, and left with Diamond Tiara. Before they left, though, Diamond stopped, looked back at the Crusaders and said, "Thank you, for helping her out I mean."  
>"Any time." Apple Bloom said, slightly confused, as they walked away. "Did we just make friends with Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm... not sure." Apple Bloom replied.<p>

Tom Foolery crossed his forelegs, blinked his eyes, and the next morning, Silver Spoon's cutie mark was returned, along with her family's wealth. "Either this is getting easier, or I'm just that good." Tom said to himself grinning.

**AN: Does anyone think else get the feeling that the writers of MLP and Gravity Falls are actively trying to one up each other? Personally, I get an image of the writers of the two shows in a stand off with the song 'Anything You can do, I can do Better' playing in the background. Gravity Falls one ups MLP's 'Dragon Quest', MLP made 'Twilight's Kingdom'; it's a riveting battle. This episode is what I think would happen if MLP tried to one up Gravity Falls' 'Golf War.'**


	22. episode 22

**AN: Yes, yes, I'm not the first to use this concept, but it's a good concept and I think I'm justified in using it.**

**Chaos in Session**

Tartarus was endless. It needed to be, for if it was not infinite, it would not inspire the hopelessness in its prisoners that it was designed for. It was a cruel place, one ponies didn't like to think about. It was a bitter place. And none were more aware of this fact than Tirek.

The old minatare sat in his cell, stewing like he had for months since he'd been sent back, and like he had for centuries before when he'd first been imprisoned. There was little else he could do other than stew and fester in hatred; it was one of the only things he knew how to do.  
>There was something else he'd done since being imprisoned; he'd wondered. He recalled the events of his escape and defeat for days at a time, going over it moment by moment, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.<p>

'How?' Tirek asked himself, 'How? Why? Why was I defeated by them? I was the strongest. I was the smartest. I'd had everything planned out, every detailed organized. How did they defeat me? What was that magic they used? Why couldn't I win?'  
>Thoughts like these plagued him, for no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of a single form of power that he didn't know inside and out. And yet, there it had been, raining down upon him and ending his rule.<p>

More than once, he'd thought about what would happen if he got out again, what he would do differently to win. But it was pointless, even if he could get out again, which wasn't likely, there was still no work around he could think of. He didn't even know what the magic was called.  
>Tirek was called out of his thoughts when he heard other prisoners howling from their own cages. Tirek looked towards the direction of the noise. 'Must be another new prisoner.' He thought.<p>

The prisoners continued to howl. And then, to Tirek's surprise, he heard laughing.  
>It was a happy, excited laugh; a sound that those in Tartarus didn't recognize, and shied away from. Tirek starred into the dark, wanting to know what creature was making its way through Tartarus. Was a new prisoner, laughing with madness? Maybe the laughing was coming from whoever was putting the prisoner away.<br>Tirek felt like he could almost make out the shape of the creature laughing as it got closer. And then, just as quickly as it started, it all stopped. The howling, the laughing; everything went silent.  
>Tirek watched the empty darkness for a few moments, making sure that there wasn't still something there, then turned away. Strange things happened in Tartarus, and the ones who dwelled on them were the ones who went crazy.<br>Tirek returned to recalling what had happened outside Tartarus. The moment Tirek turned around, he was met with Applejack, sitting a few feet away.  
>"What-how-why are you here!" Tirek demanded. He recognized the orange mare, he would have all six of those ponies memorized for the rest of his life.<br>"Jus' here fer dinner." Applejack said, matter-of-factly. Tirek looked at her in disbelief as he saw the food that had been set up. 'How did she get that in the cage without me noticing? Wait a minute, how did she get into the cage at all? How did she even get into Tartarus?' Tirek made sure to ask each of these questions out loud, but each was answered with a plain shrug.  
>The orange earth pony took out a meal and began eating. Tirek didn't touch the food. "Aren't ya going to eat somethin'?" Applejack asked. Tirek scowled, "No, it could be a trick."<br>The earth pony laughed, "Don't lie, that's not why yer not eating." Tirek looked at her confused. "What do you mean?" "Simple. This is one of yer last chances to get food that doesn't taste like ash. If it's a trick, so what? Yer already in Tartarus. You aren't eatin' for a different reason."  
>"What reason is that?" Tirek questioned. Applejack shrugged again. "That's for you to figure out, once you start being honest with yourself."<br>Applejack packed up the food and left, vanishing into the shadows, leaving Tirek thoroughly confused. 

The next day, something equally confusing happened. More accurately, nearly the same thing happened, only it was the blue pegasis Rainbow Dash who appeared in his cage, again saying that she was there for dinner.  
>Again, Tirek didn't eat. This time, rather than ask why he wasn't eating, she asked about Tirek's brother. "So, what do you think ever happened to Scorpan?"<br>The ordinary manner in which she asked the questioned jarred Tirek. "Wh-what's it matter to you?" The pegasis shrugged. "I guess it doesn't, but I thought it might be a good idea to remind you that it should matter to you. I get the feeling you haven't thought about it in a while. Just as Applejack had, Rainbow Dash cleared away the food and flew away into the darkness.

It came as less of a surprise when Rarity appeared in his cage. This time, Tirek did eat, hunger final beating out his fear. He was surprised to learn that the food really was just food. And good food to.

"So tell me, what did you think when Scorpan befriended us ponies?" Rarity asked. Tirek let out a low roar of anger. "What did I think? What did I think? I think he was a fool, that's what I think!"  
>Rarity waited for Tirek to calm himself before she said, "Well, think about this. What if the roles were reversed? What if ponies had come to your homeland and taken over? Would a pony siding with your kind be a fool if it meant helping you?"<br>Tirek opened his mouth to reply, but no witty come back came out. Rarity cleared away the food, and walked away.

The next day it was Pinkie Pie. Again Tirek ate the food in silence, hoping that the pink pony would do the same.  
>"If you ever got out of here, what would you do?" Tirek wasn't expecting that question, he was more than happy to answer. "I would take over, of course." Pinkie rolled her eyes. "No, I mean besides that."<br>Tirek didn't understand. "You know, besides taking over, what would you do if you got out?" Tirek didn't have an answer.  
>"You mean there really isn't a single other thing in the whole world that you can think to do? That's… upsetting." And with that, Pinkie Pie bounced off.<p>

The next day it was Fluttershy. They got through the whole meal in silence, and Tirek genuinely thought that no questions would come. No such luck.  
>"Do you ever think about why Scorpan did what he did?" Tirek scowled, "He did what he did because he was weak!" "Weak? Is that what you've been thinking?" Fluttershy asked.<br>"What do you mean?" Tirek questioned. "Well, Scorpan and the ponies won. The ponies won again when you got out. Scorpan is in your homeland and you're here in a cage. Which of the two of you seems weak?"  
>The words hit Tirek like a buck to the face. Tirek was about to ask a question of his own, about Scorpan, but the yellow pegasis was gone.<p>

Tirek knew who was next, there was only one left. Sure enough, the next day,Twilight Sparkle appeared in his cage.  
>"Hello princess." Tirek spat. "Hello Tirek." Twilight greeted him. Tirek watched suspiciously as they ate. Tirek was prepared for the question, prepared to hurl his own questions back, to roar, to shout, to maybe even intimidate.<br>But no questions ever came. They ate their food, and then the alicorn rose to leave. "Wait, what is your question?" Tirek asked.  
>"Question? I haven't any question." Twilight said. "All the others brought questions with them, to mess with my head. If you didn't have a question, why did you come here?"<br>She didn't answer Tirek's question. "You say the others asked you questions, why do you think they asked you what they did?" "To toy with me!" Tirek shouted, "To confuse and weaken me! To make me think about my fool brother, so I'll start thinking about him instead of escape!"  
>"Is that really the only reason you can think of? You really can't imagine them trying to do anything else but hurt you?" Twilight asked.<br>"Make sense!" Tirek shouted, throwing a stone in Twilight's direction. When the stone made contact, Twilight's form seemed to melt into the air, dissipating.

Laughter followed, and now Tirek recognized it. "Discord?"  
>The spirit of chaos appeared before Tirek, holding his sides in laughter. "This has been you're doing all along!" Tirek surmised. "Oh good, you couldn't tell. I was afraid my Applejack was a little off." Discord said, wiping a tear from his eye.<br>"What was the point to all of this trickery?" Tirek questioned. "It's funny you use that word, as it happens, I'm here because of a trickster." Discord explained, "He convinced me that I could use my powers to help things. I figured, who better to test this on than you?"  
>"So all this has just been you playing a game with me?"<br>Discord looked offended, "All I did was ask you a few simple questions. I didn't do it face to face, but I got you thinking didn't I? Thinking about things you haven't thought about in far too long. I had a feeling that you wouldn't have listened to me. Was I wrong?"  
>Tirek grumbled, Discord was right. Had the draconiquis simply appeared in his cage and started talking, Tirek would have responded immediately with an attack. Being confronted by the one's who'd defeated him and stilled him long enough for Discord to get his point across.<br>"So what now? All you've done is remind me that my brother is living in elegance a world away, glad that I'm festering here." Tirek said.  
>Discord shook his head, "Tirek my friend, you've missed the point." "Then what is the blasted point!" Tirek questioned. "Well, now, I can't tell you, that's cheating; what's worse, it spoils my fun. I'm going to leave you to think about why I made you remember your brother, who was rewarded for choosing peace."<br>Discord vanished, reappearing outside Tirek's cage. "Oh, and by the way, Scorpan isn't glad that your here." "What do you know what my brother thinks!" Tirek snapped. "Simple, I asked him a few minutes ago. Which reminds me, you were also wrong about him being a world away. He's being waved through by the guards, here to visit family."  
>And with that, Discord vanished. Tirek wondered for a moment id Discord had been toying with him, until he heard the footsteps appraising.<p>

**AN: Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, etc. **


	23. episode 23

**AN**:** Woo hoo! Five thousand views! Now, to celebrate, and as a thank you...**

**A Tricky Retelling**

Lyra and Bon-Bon already had the picnic set up when Octavia and Vinyl arrived. "Have either of you seen Ditzy?" Lyra asked.

"Maybe she got turned around again?" Octavia offered. "Naw, I got an idea where she might be." Vinyl said.

Ditzy had in fact gotten a little turned around, but not on her way to the picnic. She had a stop to make before she went to see her friends. With some effort, she had just managed to find the blue house she'd been looking for.

Ditzy knocked on the door and waited. "Who is it?" A voice questioned from behind the door. "It's Ditzy, the mail mare. Another one of those things came for you." Ditzy replied.

The opened swiftly, revealing a rather tall brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. "Thank you." Time Turner said, taking the package. He handed Ditzy a few bits and started to close the door.

"Wait, I was wondering, you've stayed in your house since you first got to Ponyville. Would you maybe like to come with me to a picnic and meet my friends? It must get awfully lonely working in there all by yourself all the time."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I just haven't got the time. I have too much work to do." Time Turner said.

"Hey Ditzy!" Bon-Bon called as she and Ditzy's other friends approached. "You still trying to make friends with Time Turner?"

Ditzy had been trying, unsuccessfully, for a few weeks now to get Time Turner to take a break from his work and meet some of the townsponies.

"I don't have time for friends, there's just too much I have to do." Time Turner said, taking out the new machine part Ditzy had delivered him. "Well that just crazy talk." Lyra said. "Everypony should have friends."

"Your half right." Time Turner said. "But I just can't handle that kind of excitement right now. I have things to…" He trailed off. "Something's wrong."

The others looked around, seeing that, what had been midafternoon moments ago, was now evening.

"Whoa! How did that happen?" Vinyl asked. "I'm not sure; we've only been standing here for a few seconds." Octavia pointed out.

"Uh oh." Time turner said. "What's wrong?" Ditzy asked him. "I'm not certain." Time Turner said, hurrying inside his house without bothering to close the door. He placed the machine part on a desk and moved quickly to a calendar on the wall.

He sighed when he saw the date. "It's as I feared. We've slipped." "Slipped? On what?" Bon-Bon asked. "On time mostly. Look around, recognize the decorations?" Time Turner asked. Ditzy and her friends looked around, now noticing the decor. It was quiet for a moment before Lyra could place them. "The Summer Sun Celebration!"

Time Turner nodded. "But the Celebration isn't for more than half a year." Octavia said. "Like I said, we've slipped. Probably backwards." Time Turner said again, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Ditzy said. "If we've slipped, we need to figure out why and to when. We can't exactly stat like this can we?" Time Turner said.

"What are you talking about?" Vinyl questioned. Time Turner sighed, "It seems you've all been dragged along for the ride with me. It's best I show you, that way no time is wasted with convincing."

Time Turner led the small group to the location of the Summer Sun Celebration. When they entered, Vinyl, Octavia, Bob-Bon, Lyra, and Ditzy were surprised to see that, not only were they at the Celebration, they were at one they'd already been to. They all recognized this night, it was the night that Nightmare Moon had returned.

"How is this possible?" Octavia asked. "If I had a bit for every time I've had to answer that one." Time Turner muttered to himself.

Time Turner told them all to act as though nothing was wrong, and not to draw any attention to themselves. The ponies complied, waiting. After a few minutes, a terrifying scene played out. The return of Nightmare Moon.

But something was different this time, no Twilight Sparkle. The lavender unicorn that had saved the day with her friends the first time around was missing, and so were the rest of the element bearers.

"So that's what it is." Time Turner said to himself when the others pointed out the missing six element bearers.  
>"Okay, listen up and please save all questions until the end." Time Turner said. "As I said before, we've slipped. Time slip, right into the return of Nightmare Moon, but this time around, the soon to be princess Twilight and her friends aren't here to save the day."<p>

Hearing this explanation, Time Turner's rule about holding questions until the end was disregarded. "How did we time slip?" Lyra asked. "How did you know what happened?" Octavia asked. "How do we get back?" Ditzy asked. "If we're in the past and haven't changed anything yet, what happened to Princess Twilight?" Vinyl asked.

"To answer your questions in correct order: wrong place at the wrong time, been through this more than once, correct the break in time, and…" Time Turner took a breath before answering Vinyl's question. "You're thinking of time as a straight line that goes from beginning to end. You're going to have to stop that. Time is wiggly, and in the worst cases, even wonky. We're not just in another point in time; we're in another time all together.

"This time continuum is broken. It doesn't have any Twilight Sparkle or council of friendship to save it, so it reached out; pulling me, and consequently you, here to fix it."

"Why did it reach out for you in the first place?" Bon-Bon asked. Time Turner chuckled, "Let's just say I didn't get my cutie mark from discovering the joys of time keeping."

"So, to get home, we have to do what the council of friendship did when they saved the day." Ditzy surmised. "That's correct. Now, if I recall, they went into the Everfree forest correct?" Time Turner asked. "Yeah, the Everfree, which still has its claws at this point." Vinyl said. "I never said fixing the break in time would be easy did I?"

The six ponies moved quickly through the forest, not wanting to get caught by one of the beasts that would still be roaming through it at this time.

"I think we're lost." Lyra said, magically plucking away at her lyre. "I think your right, we should- wait. We're did you get that?" Time Turner asked, indicating the lyre. Lyra looked confused, then her eyes went wide. "I… I don't know. We were walking, and then I just had it with me. Is that bad?" Time Turner shook his head. "I don't think so, perhaps time is trying to over correct our presence here. In any event, we should get to higher ground. That way we can look for the castle of the Two Sisters."

It was only after they'd all made it to the cliff did Bon-Bon remember something important. "Didn't the council of friendship fall off of a cliff?" Two seconds after she'd said it, the cliff they were standing on collapsed under them.

When Time Turner regained his bearings, he saw that he and Lyra were a few feet away from the edge; none of the others could be seen. "Lyra! Time Turner!" Bob-Bon's voice called from over the edge, "You've got to jump! Hurry, before there's a rock slide!"

"Are you sure?" Lyra called back. "Yes! You'll both be fine!" To Time Turner's immense surprise, Lyra actually jumped. He rushed quickly to the edge, only to have the weak stones crumble underneath him. Time Turner's fall was slowed down by Vinyl's magic; Lyra was being carried down by Ditzy.

"How did you know you'd be safe?" Time Turner asked Lyra when they were both on the ground. "I didn't really, but I knew Bon-Bon wouldn't tell me jump unless she knew I'd be okay. I trusted her." Lyra explained.

They continued their journey for a few more minutes, during which Vinyl's headphones miraculously appeared, unhindered. Then, seemingly from nowhere, they group was surrounded by horrifying monsters.

Everyone scattered, except Vinyl, who was wondering why they were all running away from ugly trees. She shrugged; she would have to get everypony back in one place somehow. She thought for a moment, then got an idea.

Using her magic, she paused her music, turned her headphones inside out so they were facing the forest, and hit play. Instantly, music blasted out from the headphones. The trees closest to Vinyl were bent back from the force of the pulsing sound.

The rest of the group all heard the music, and after Octavia convinced Time Turner that it was Vinyl and not the roar of a Lovcraftian monster, they all followed it away from the face trees.

"How are you not deft?" Time Turner asked Vinyl. "Who said I wasn't?" Vinyl replied.

The group pushed forward on the trail to the castle. According to the compass Time Turner had found himself holding, they would reach a river soon. But before they could cross or even reach the river, they would have to deal with the manticore.

The great beast had come lumbering out of the brush, roaring to the sky. The group bravely responded to this new threat the way any sensible party of hero's would, by running very fast in the other direction.

Except Ditzy, who heard another of the monster's howls and turned around. "Ditzy, hurry!" Octavia called to the gray pegasis.

Ditzy walked forward to the manticore. "What's wrong?" She asked it. The manticore raised its paw into the air. But, surprising the rest of the group, it help its paw out to Ditzy. Seeing the sharp thorn stuck in the manticore's paw, she grabbed it and, after putting all her strength into it, managed to remove it. The beast let out a relieved sound, licked Ditzy, and lumbered away.

"What was that all about?" Lyra asked. "What? Just because it was big and scary looking didn't mean it was dangerous. I don't know why ponies always assume the worst." Ditzy said. "I supposed it's just in our nature Derpy." Time Turner said. "It's Ditzy." Ditzy corrected him. "Is it? Hmm, well, Derpy sounds better." Time Turner said.

The group was a little shaken by all that had happened, but they managed to make it to the river. Unfortunately, the river didn't seem safe cross. Deadly rapids raged across it.

Looking up the river, the group saw that a weeping serpent seemed to be what was causing the harsh waters.

"Hey scaly!" Vinyl shouted to get the serpents attention, "Could you cool it with the water ride? We're kinda in a hurry." At her words, the serpent wailed louder, sending even stronger waves downstream.

"Is that all you ponies ever think about? The last one through here moved so fast she lopped half of my beautiful mustache right off!" The serpent cried.

"I'm sorry about your decimated facial hair, but we need to get across." Time Turner said, the words 'decimated facial hair' only making things worse. "It's true! I'm hideous!"

"Actually," Octavia said calmly, "I think you look rather dashing." The serpent's writhing slowed, "R-really?" Octavia nodded. "Certainly, simply comb out the short half and cut the longer half short and you'd look smashing." Octavia said.

The serpent stopped weeping, in fact, he smiled, looking down at his reflection in the water. "Oh!Your right!" The serpent grinned, no longer releasing rapids. "Oh thank you! Thank you!" The serpent said, using his claws to shave the longer half of his mustache.

"Think nothing of it." Octavia said, jumping across the stones in the river with the rest of the group.

The group could see the Castle of the Two Sisters in the distance as they crossed the bridge. "Careful," Time Turner warned, "This bridge is old, any rushed movements could bring the whole thing down."

They crossed slowly, the slow pace and growing fog making them tense up. The fog was growing so thick in fact, that by the time they were half way across, Bon-Bon, who was last in the line, couldn't see Lyra two feet in front of her.

_Follow us. _Bon-Bon turned at the voice, seeing only a swirling mass in the shadows behind her. _Follow us. We are kind spirits, we've found a way to bring you back to your own time. But you must hurry!_

"Really? That's great! I'll just tell the others and-" _No! We only have enough power to save one of you. _"Really? That's too bad. Oh well, I better hurry and catch up with the others." Bon-Bon said.

_If you continue on, you may not succeed. _"If we fail, we fail together." Bon-Bon told the spirit as she hurried across the bridge.

"So these are the legendary elements of harmony." Time Turner looked over the six stone spheres. "Well, now that we've got them, how do we use them?" Vinyl asked. "I... I'm not sure. I'll have to do some research." Time Turner inspected the stones. "Would you mind giving me some time to study the elements in quiet?"

"Are you sure?" Ditzy asked. "Yes, these relics are complex and it should take me some time to figure out how they work." Time Turner said. Reluctantly, they left Time Turner alone to work.

After some time, Ditzy started to get worried. "He's been quiet for awhile, I think we should check on him." The five ponies discussed whether or not they should check on Time Turner, only to all rush in when they heard the shouting.

When the arrived, they saw Nightmare Moon standing over the shattered remains of the elements. "Run!" Time Turner warned them. "Not a chance." Vinyl said. "You can't fight her!" Time Turner told them. "Well we can't let you fight her by yourself, that's not how friends work." Ditzy said.

The moment Ditzy spoke the words, the stone shards flew into the air. Realization spread across Time Turner's face. "Friendship! That's what activates them! Oh I should have known, I read the story!" He looked around and the shards, and realized something else. "The elements will be different in this time line, I don't know what they'd be. Quick, everypony think back to what's happened, think about what you know about your friends."

"Oh! I know!" Bon-Bon exclaimed, "Lyra, who can find it in herself to believe in her friends no matter what, represents the element of faith!" The stones circling Lyra collided forming a necklace with her lyre cutie mark on it.

"Oh I get it!" Lyra said, "Bon-Bon, who stands with her friends for better or worst, represents the elements of devotion!" The stones circling Bon-Bon formed a necklace with her candy cutie mark on it.

"Octavia," Vinyl said, "Who can always see the best in other ponies, represents the element of appreciation!" The stones around Octavia formed into a necklace with her music note mark on it.

"Vinyl," Octavia said, "Who puts everything she has into every unique beat and is always finding new ways around, represents the element of creativity!" The stones circling Vinyl formed a necklace with her music note cutie mark on it.

"Derpy," Time Turner said, "Who never assumes the worst and smiles in the face of danger, represents the element of innocence!" The stones circling Ditzy formed into a necklace with her bubble cutie mark on it.

"And Time Turner," Ditzy said, "Who never gives up on his quest for answers, represents the element of curiosity!" The stones circling Time Turner formed into a helm, his hourglass cutie mark across the top.

"I thought at first that I could face any threat the world sent by myself," Time Turner said, facing Nightmare Moon, "But it seems I'm going to need a little help from my friends. And you know what? I can't say I mind all that much."

Beams of light fired from the elements, connecting in the air and forming a massive rainbow, which arched down; enveloping Nightmare Moon. "No!" Nightmare Moon cried, "No! I can't lose! I," She snickered, "I... I can't keep this up."

There was a flash, and suddenly the six ponies were outside Time Turner's house in mid-afternoon, a tall grey trickster rolling on the ground with laughter. "And you were all like 'so and so represents this.' And then he was like 'I'm going to need my friends.' Priceless!" Tom Foolery said between fits of laughter.

"I... don't understand." Ditzy said. "He's a trickster. They play tricks on ponies with their magic when they think that the pony needs to learn a lesson." Time Turner explained. "That I do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Placed to go, lives to warp. You can keep those elements by the way, I magicked them out of a six pack of grape juice." And with that, and a tap of the hoof, Tom was gone.

"Well, that was... an experience." Octavia said. "No kidding. Didn't we have a picnic or something?" Vinyl recalled. "That's right! Time Turner, do you want to come with us?" Ditzy asked hopefully. Time Turner thought about all that had just happened, then said, "You know what, I think I will."

**AN: Can you feel it? Can you feel the fan pandering overload? Are you as excited for the 100 episode of the actual show as I am?**

**PS: A big thank you to Canned Cream for accidentally giving me this idea with his Second Six video.**

**PSS: My friend MasterofReview (guess how we met) has put up the first chapter of his story The Journal. Give it a look, I think the story is going to turn out awesome. **


	24. episode 24

**AN: And so it begins...**

**The Army of the Night, part 1/3**

It seemed like it would be such a simple night. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, until Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all arrived at Twilight's castle almost simultaneously.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked. "You tell us, you're the one who sent out the SOS." Rainbow Dash said.

"What are you talking about? I never sent out any SOS." Twilight said. "Too bad, you really should have."

The door slammed shut, the curtains pulled themselves over the windows, and Tom Foolery appeared. "We need to talk." He said. Then, seeing that the ponies had formed a sort of battle formation, said, "I'm here on friendly terms. No tricks this time."

"The SOS?" Twilight questioned. "Okay so one trick; I had to get you all in one place somehow. Would have preferred being teleported against your will?"

"What are these friendly terms of yours?" Twilight asked. "A warning, nothing more. There's a storm brewing, it's been brewing for some time now and it's about to surge forward all at once. If you aren't careful, it might get the best of you."

"Jus' what is this storm that's so bad?" Applejack asked. "Your own princess Luna."

**[Fade to night sky in Canterlot]**

_I know it sounds crazy, but you'll have to trust me. It's my business to know when things are broken, and she's breaking._

Princess Luna was going through her nightly routine of tending to the dreams of her subjects. She'd noticed that something had been off about her dream walking for the past few weeks; like she was there in the dreams, but only halfway.

She reached the dream of a mare who was meeting princess Celestia for the first time. She seemed so overjoyed at just the dream of meeting Luna's sister.

Luna watched the dream go on. She should have moved on to the next dream, this one was fine, but for some reason she didn't. She just watched, getting angry, but not knowing why.

Why weren't they dreaming of meeting her? She controlled the moon, she guarded their dreams, and she was powerful in her own right. Wasn't she? Of course she was, so why did no pony see it? Why is it that no matter what she did, no matter what happened, even after her reformation, she was still in her sister's shadow? Why-

Luna felt something. It was like something in her… broke, snapped, shattered. She used her magic to stop the mare's dream, and approach her.

"Princess Luna?" she asked. "You don't have to sound so disappointed." Luna snapped. "I-I'm not. I just…"

"Why do you stutter? Do you fear me?" Luna asked. The pony started to shake slightly, and shook her head. "N-no, of course not." "And yet you still shake. I am not something to be feared. I have proven this. But if you refuse to believe so, perhaps I should show you things you should fear."

All it took was a wave of the hoof, and all the pony's nightmares, new and old, came out at once.

"That's insane! Princess Luna would never do anything like that." Twilight defended. "I understand why you don't want to admit I'm right, but-" "You're wrong! Luna changed, she isn't Nightmare Moon anymore, the elements reformed her." Twilight said.

"Then I guess I have nothing to fear." Tom said, "Assuming she hasn't been Nightmare Moon since the elements changed her back." Twilight opened her mouth to confirm this, then stopped.

"Oh? Hesitation? And so quick you were to defend her moments ago. Yes, I know all about the Gala. She didn't just turn Nightmare, she did so of her own free will! If you don't want to prepare yourself for the bad weather, then fine. But I'm getting my rain coat and guilloches ready." And with that, the trickster vanished.

"He's crazy… right?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Of course he is, he's a trickster. He's trying to get us to fall for… something. If we just ignore him, he'll go away on his own. He gets bored easier than Discord."

Luna walked up the stair to her room. She couldn't believe what she'd done to that pony. All those nightmares, all those fears. Luna was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that something was wrong, and she knew she had to end it.

She recalled a reform spell, used to force peace and harmony into those who would not accept it on their own. If she cast it on herself, everything would be fine. She continued up the stairs.

"_It's over now, I need not care, no pony need over know. The sorry tale of Nightmare, and those she didn't spare."_ Luna thought back to the Gala. That, she was certain, was what had caused it all.

"_They'd only see the tragedy, they would forget about my intent. The shadow of her evil, would forever kill the good, that I… had… meant…" _Luna reached her room. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, looking disheveled.

"_Am I, a good mare? Am I, a mad mare? It's such a fine line, between a goon mare… and… a…" _Luna sighed, turning to the book case to find the reform spell.

"_Did you really think, that I would ever let you go?" _Luna dropped the book, looking franticly for the source of the voice. _"Did you really think, I would ever set you free?" _Luna looked to the mirror where she saw, to her horror, the image of herself, as Nightmare Moon. _"If you did, I'm sorry to say, it simply isn't so. You will never get away from me!"_

"_All that you are is a face in the mirror! I close my eyes and you disappear!" _Luna shouted at the image, which grinned in response. _"I'm what you face when you look in the mirror, long as you live I'll still be here!"_

"_All that you are is the end of a nightmare! All that you are is a dying scream! After tonight I shall end this demon's dream!" _Luna turned back to the bookshelf, find the correct book.

"_This is not a dream my friend, and it will never end. This is a nightmare that will go on!" _Luna turned to see that the image of Nightmare Moon had stepped out of the mirror, and was now standing in front of her. _"Nightmare Moon is her to stay! No matter what you may pretend! And I'll flourish long after you're gone!"_

"_Soon you shall fade and my memory will hide you! You cannot choose but to lose control!" _Nightmare laughed. _"You can't control me, I live deep inside you. Each night you've felt me corrupt your soul."_

"_I don't need you to survive like you need me! I'll become whole as you dance with death! And I'll rejoice as you breathe your final breath!"_

"_I'll live inside you, forever!" "No!" "Fight all you want, I'll be in control very soon!" "No!" "You'll see, that nopony, will ever, be able to separate Luna from Nightmare Moon!"_

Nightmare charged Luna. Luna held a defensive stance, but Nightmare seemed to faze through it, binding herself to Luna.

Luna shrieked, _"It's over now! It's time to go!" _Luna could still hear Nightmare's voice. _"Not for I, only you!" "If I fall, you fall too!" _Nightmare seemed to laugh at that, _"You'll fade into me, and I'll be you!"_

"_Curses Nightmare! Leave me be!" "Can't you see? You are me!" _Luna struggled desperately against the force she could feel inside.

"_Nightmare Moon! Take all your evil deeds and rot in Tartarus!" _These words were all she could say, before Nightmare Moon took over. She smiled, _I'll see you there, Luna."_

Luna had known where the book had been hidden after the Gala, so Nightmare Moon knew where it was as well. They'd tried to destroy it, but nothing had worked.

In any event, Nightmare Moon now had the book with her.

"Rally the other bat ponies." Nightmare Moon ordered the head of the royal guard. "Tonight we claim the castle."

The guard looked at her in shock. "Princess, you would have us turn against Celestia?" Nightmare glared. She tapped into the book's power and gave the order again. This time, the guard merely nodded and went off to carry out her orders.

Nightmare Moon marched into the throne room with her small army of the royal guard at just before dawn. "What is the meaning of this?" Celestia demanded.

Nightmare chuckled. Celestia could sense the power of the book coursing through her. "Luna, please, calm yourself. This is the book, nothing more."

Nightmare laughed out loud. "All the book has done is given me the power to achieve what I've always wanted sister. Step down now, and spare yourself combat."

Celestia stood tall. "I will do no such thing. In the past I was left with no choice but to banish you, but in these times we now have the power to cure you."

"Cure me!? Ha! Cure me of what sister? I have no sickness, nor any curse. I've chosen this." Celestia didn't believe Nightmare's words. "I cannot allow you to bring harm to our subjects."

Nightmare grinned. "The last time around I was foalish. This time, I won't give you the chance!" Nightmare shot a bolt of magic. Celestia braced herself for the impact, only to find that it was some sort of binding spell.

"What's the old expression? An eye for an eye?" Nightmare said. Celestia realized too late what was happening. She was engulfed in Nightmare's spell, and carried away; bound to the sun.

"Send out a message, a call to action for all those willing to fight for the army of the night." Nightmare told the captain of the guard. "I have business that I need to attend to in our old castle."

"Princess Twilight! We must take heed! We are at war with darkness and greed!" Zecora called form the door of the castle.

"Zecora? What's going on?" Twilight asked. "I saw Princess Luna in the sky. She wore silver armor as she passed me by. I could feel the power she held; only destruction will come to the places she's trailed." Zecora explained.

Twilight gasped. "Tom Foolery, the trickster, he warned that something like this would happen. I thought he was lying." "A trickster's words are rarely true, for not believing him, I can't blame you. But Nightmare Moon has returned with intentions of ill. Gather the six, and do what you will."

Twilight nodded and hurried back inside. She felt stupid for not taking the trickster's warning, but how was she supposed to know she was supposed to trust somepony named Tom Foolery?

Twilight had roughly the same idea as Celestia had. She planned to use the reform spell to cure Luna; but she'd need a distraction. Between the five of them, they'd be more than capable of buying Twilight enough time to get a clean shot.

Using Twilight's teleportation, they reached Nightmare Moon directly outside the Castle of the Two Sisters.

"Well hello my little ponies, have you come to aid in my efforts?" Nightmare asked genuinely. "Yeah right!" Rainbow Dash replied. Nightmare glared. "So, you all stay steadfast to my sister? Even with her bound to her precious star?"

Twilight was taken aback by the statement that Celestia had been bound to the sun, but that problem could be fixed later. "We've just come to talk to you. We want to help." Twilight said.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy and nodded. Fluttershy, reluctantly, began moving closer to Nightmare. The only thing that kept her from freezing was the knowledge that, even if it went wrong, Twilight had a backup plan.

She would get within range and attempt to use the Stare on Nightmare. If it didn't work, Rainbow Dash would get her out of range before Nightmare could attack.

But when Nightmare said Fluttershy getting closer, she grinned. "So they send you to face me? Amusing." Nightmare Moon used her magic to see into Fluttershy's mind.

"Oh my, so much anger. I wonder what it's doing all bottled up. I could help you let it out if you like." Nightmare offered. Fluttershy began to shake, and Nightmare saw, just for a second, her teeth. "It seems anger is not all your hiding."

It happened too fast for anypony to react. Nightmare Moon fired a spell at Fluttershy and was gone into the castle. The others moved quickly to Fluttershy's aid. She was shrouded in a cloak of darkness. When it faded, to their horror, Fluttershy had been transformed. For the second time, Fluttershy was a bat pony.

"It's been so long." Nightmare Moon said, the star spiders swarming. "So long since I gave all power. Now I must ask for it back. You aided in my escape, now I must ask that you aid in my ascent."

All the star spiders froze. Slowly, tiny wisps of magic seeping out of them, and they lost their star marks. The power came in small amounts, but there were thousands of spiders. All that power flowed directly into Nightmare Moon.

**AN: Chekov's Gun!**

…

**Look it up.**


	25. episode 25

**The Army of the Night, part 2/3**

The diamond dogs were a simple race. Living underground, they didn't know a great deal about what was happening on the surface. They hadn't noticed that the sky was still dark, despite it being well passed sunrise, and were thoroughly surprised when Nightmare Moon landed in their cavern.

"W-what are you doing here?" Rover questioned. "Do not be alarmed, I have only come to ask your allegiance." Nightmare Moon said simply.

"Our allegiance?" Spot asked. "It has been a long time since I, Nightmare Moon, was in power. The ponies will be hesitant to join me. So, I would like your help in... persuading them." Nightmare explained.

There was silence. The diamond dogs recognized the name of Nightmare Moon. When she first rose, the diamond dogs had remained underground and she had overlooked them. But they couldn't do that this time, she'd come directly to them.

"Why do you want our help?" Rover asked. "Any are welcome to join the army of the night. Those who oppose us however..."

Rover gulped. He looked to his fellow dogs, all of whom were watching the dark alicorn in fear. "We will happily join you, your majesty." Rover said. Nightmare Moon grinned, "I'm glad to hear it. Prepare you dogs to march, there are some who would seek to thwart us, we must not allow this. We must fight."

The council of friendship was trying hard not to fight. They'd tried talking to Fluttershy, but she either couldn't understand them, or just wasn't listening. They'd all known that Fluttershy possessed incredible strength when angry, but she was practically bringing down trees in single strikes.

"It must be the bat pony DNA." Twilight said, teleporting out of Fluttershy's way. Fluttershy sailed into a tree, knocking it down with the force of the impact.

"I thought your spell got rid of all the bat stuff." Rainbow Dash said, pulling Rarity out of the way of another tackle.

"It must not have removed all of it. If there was even the smallest amount left, Nightmare Moon would've been able to enhance it and cause, well, this!" Twilight said, trying to hold Fluttershy in an aura of magic. It only held for a few seconds before Fluttershy broke free, hissing angrily and charging at Twilight.

Discord was starting to get worried. He could tell that the sun was supposed to be up. Just as he was on his way to see what was wrong, Tom Foolery appeared in front of him.

"We have a problem." Tom said. "I thought so, what's happening?" Discord asked. Tom clicked his tongue impatiently. 'Explanations, explanations,' He thought.

He waved hi hoof through the air, conjuring an imagine in the air, showing everything that had happened. Discord's eyes widened when he was Fluttershy be transformed into a bat pony. He tried to teleport to her aid, but Tom stopped him.

"The bat pony was ingrained to deeply in her. You can't fix her, not completely." Tom said. "But you could!" Discord said. Tom shook his head. "If I'm not playing a trick, I can't get involved in the problems of ponies. Unless..."

Tom Foolery appeared and pulled Fluttershy away from her friends. He clicked his hooves together, there was a flash of light, and Fluttershy was herself again. Fluttershy shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked. "You went bat and tried to eat your friends." Tom told her. "I didn't ask you!" Fluttershy snapped. Everypony looked at her in surprise. Fluttershy turning into a bat pony and attacking them was one thing, but Fluttershy knowingly being rude to somepony?

"I was afraid of this," Tom said, "The anger is still there." "Well then get rid of it genius!" Fluttershy snapped again. "I can't. Nightmare Moon didn't put the anger there, it's been there from the start." Tom said.

"What do you mean? Fluttershy is always really nice to everypony." Pinky said. "Yes she is. She's never mean or rude. Never let's out any anger. But anger still comes to her, and she buries it," Tom explained, "She's been burying her anger in a pit in her mind for years." "Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Fluttershy shouted.

Tom ignored her, "All that anger, annoyance, rage, it's all been let out all at once. She's going to have to keep it this time, the floodgates are open for good this time. Maybe it'll give her the chance to work through it all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy questioned, stomping on the trickster's hoof. Fluttershy squeaking in pain and recoiled. "Forgotten what species I am have we?" Tom rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash said, "Not that I'm complaining, but why did you help us?" "Well, I made a deal." Tom said. "A deal? With whom?" Rarity asked.

"Discord. I when he heard what Nightmare Moon did to Fluttershy he asked me to help. So we made a deal. I fixed Fluttershy, and he did me a favor." Tom explained. "What kinda favor?" Applejack asked.

"I... had him do what needs to be done, what I know you won't do." Tom said, looking at Twilight. "What do you mean?" She questioned. "Right now, Discord is in the Crystal Empire, asking for their assistance in battle on your behalf." Tom said.

"What?!" The entire mane six shouted in unison. "I knew you'd do that, that's why I sent Discord. He understands what this really is." Tom said.

"What do you mean? What 'really is' this?" Twilight questioned. Tom shook his head. "This isn't like all those battles you've had before, you and your friends against a single villain. This is bigger. This is something I know for a fact you can't handle without numbers. Twilight Sparkle, whether your willing to admit it or not, you are at war."

Nightmare Moon didn't know what was drawing her away from her troops, but it was like she was being called. She told them all to wait were they were while she investigated. She could feel some source of great magic close by.

"Who goes there?" Nightmare Moon demanded, sensing a presence. "It's me!" Discord exclaimed as he appeared.

Nightmare smiled maliciously at the draconiquis. "Princess Twilight sent you here to stop me I assume?" "You really shouldn't assume things, I'm just here to stall." Discord said, snapping his fingers and turning the ground to quicksand.

"_I must admit your parlor tricks are amusing." _Nightmare easily pulled herself out of the quicksand with her magic._ "I bet you've got a bunny under your hat." _A puff of shadow surrounded Discord's head, an image of a bunny appeared and blew a raspberry at Discord.

"_Here's your chance to get the best of me, hope your hand is hot. Come on Discord, show me what you've got!" _Discord snapped and a bolt of lightning fired from the sky.

"_You try to nab me with your simple stuff but your double whammy isn't up to snuff." _Nightmare deflected the bolt with seemingly no effort._"I'll set the record strait, your simple out of date, your only second rate!"_

Discord summoned a chimera that charged Nightmare. "Y_ou think your cats a meanie, but I say he's tame." _Nightmare caught the creature in chains of shadow, pulling it into the shadows._"You've got a lot to learn, about the power game!"_

Nightmare's shadows caught Discord and pulled him down a pit. _"So for your education, I reiterate, your only second rate!"_

Discord reappeared out of the pit, though the shadows forced him to the ground. "_Colt's cower, at the power, that only I wield." _Nightmare's shadows surrounded Discord, grabbing him no matter where he appeared. "_My horn holds the most scorn on every list." _Nightmare fired a bolt of magic. It hit Discord in the chest and knocked him into a tree.

"_But if your not convinced that I'm invincible, go ahead, put me to the test." _Discord looked into Nightmare's eyes, his eyes becoming hypnotic swirls of color and magic. To his sincere surprise, it didn't work. _"I'd love to lay this rivalry to rest!"_

"_So go ahead, hit me with a big surprise." _Discord formed a miniature storm of cotton candy and sent it flying at Nightmare. _"Slap me in a trap." _Discord snapped his fingers and Nightmare was placed in a cage. _"Cut me down to size." _The cage shrunk, and Nightmare shrunk with it to half her ordinary size.

"_I'll make a great escape, it's just a piece of cake, your only second rate!" _Nightmare shattered the cage, returning to her normal size. Discord let out several plunder seeds, sending up spiked vines to trap Nightmare. In addition, he brought two stone statues to life and send the after Nightmare.

"_Your hocus-pocus isn't tough enough." _Nightmare practically shrugged off the vines, snapping them easily. _"And your mambo-jumbo doesn't measure up."_ Nightmare bucked one statue to pieces, shattering the second with her horn.

"_Let me pontificate upon your sorry state, your only second rate!" _Nightmare fired several bolt of magic, which Discord tried desperately to avoid. Unfortunately, Nightmare seemed to be able to appear in the shadows in front of him. _"Zaba-kabra-dabra!" _Discord ran the other way, but she was there to. _"Nightmares gonna grab ya!"_

Nightmare's shadow tendrils acted like chains, holding Discord. _"You can't fix it with all your fuss, this things bigger than the both of us! So spare me your desperate despair, I couldn't care less if you think it's fair. I can hardly wait, to discombobulate," _Nightmare's shadows pulled on Discord's limbs. He turned himself into a liquid to escape their grasp, only to land in a box. _"I'll send you packing in a shipping crate. My rise is soon so you better save the date, your only second rate!" _Nightmare sent the box that contained Discord flying through the air.

"This doesn't have to end in violence!" Twilight argued. "And what exactly is your plan?" Tom questioned. "We planned to use the reformation spell." Twilight said.

Tom recoiled in horror. "What's wrong with using the reformation spell?" Twilight asked. "I could just tell you, but I think this better illustrates my point." Tom clicked his hooves and Twilight's eyes glazed over, "Rarity's dresses are derivative and uninspired." Twilight said in a flat voice.

"Twilight!" Rarity gasped. "It wasn't me!" Twilight said, "It was-" Tom clicked his hooves again, "Rainbow Dash isn't nearly as awesome as she thinks. When she tries to be, she comes across as desperate." Twilight shook her head, "Stop brainwashing me!"

Tom give her a quizzical look, "Brainwashing? I'm not brainwashing you. I'm _reforming _you." Twilight, along with the rest of the mane six, gave him a confused look. "What? That is what you were planning on doing. Forcing your own opinion on another without giving them any say. Why such a spell exists is beyond me. It's almost as bad as what the pink alicorn does. I really need to schedule a meeting with her at some point."

"But Luna's turned into Nightmare Moon!" Twilight said. "And that gives you the right to make her choices for her? If you cast some spell and make everything better, Luna won't be better, she'll just be stalled. It'd be just like what butterflies over there has been doing for years. Changing the problem doesn't fix it. Plus your assuming that the spell would even work." Tom said.

"Of course it'll work." Twilight said. At that moment, a shipping crate smashed into the ground in front of them. It practically exploded, and Discord stumbled out of the wreckage. "I beg to differ."

Tom stomped once and Discord's bruises were gone. Discord explained his encounter with Nightmare Moon. "I put four times the strength into the discordant look than I gave you all, and she shrugged it off like it was nothing."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Like I said, this battle is going to happen." Tom said, "But if you'd listened, you'd know that I don't plan on letting the battle be the end of it."

**AN: We've made it to six thousand. I wonder of we can make it to seven with these last two.**


	26. episode 26

**And that was all she wrote.**

**The Army of the Night, part 3/3**

Two armies stood on either end of the long, gray, rocky landscape. One waved a flag with a full moon insignia. The other waved a flag with the symbol of the Two Sisters.

The bulk of the army of the night was bat-ponies. They hadn't wanted to fight, but Nightmare Moon's spell made them all loyal to her will. The army of the night also had an aerial team shadow bolts, created out of the shadows by Nightmare. There were small groups of unicorns and earth ponies who had willingly joined the army of the night near the center of the army.

The army of the Two Sisters was made up of all races of pony. They were set up in groups of around ten earth ponies and unicorns with about five crystal ponies in the center. The crystal ponies were there to project dome-like shields around the group. Crystal ponies couldn't use their magic for combat, as it came from love, but it worked wonders for defense.

The pegasi were on the ground, near the back and around the sides of the army, so that they could fly up quickly when the battle commenced.

But ponies weren't the only ones in the army of the Two Sisters. The buffalo waited on the hills, ready to stampede down when the time came. The gryphons waited in the clouds, waiting to act as a form of cavalry when called.

Shining Armor and a few other elitist of the royal guard had formed a council to decide the placement of the soldiers. "When is the dragon getting here?" asked an armor clad earth pony by the name of Heavy Infantry.

"Spike should be here within the hour." Shining Armor said. "The battle will be starting in minutes." Ray Gerner, a pegasis from the scouts unit, said. "We'll be able to hold out until Spike gets here." Shining Armor assured them. The others nodded, hoping he was right.

Five minutes later, the army of the night charged. The sound of a horn rang out among the army of the Two Sisters, and they charged as well. The two armies collided near the middle of the battlefield. The army of the Two Sisters had several advantages, the first of which was overwhelming numbers.

The second was the presence of earth ponies, unicorns, and crystal ponies. These advantages made the fight fairly one sided in the first ten minutes. Then a hissing sound was heard, bouncing off the stone and echoing. Soldiers from the army of the Two Sisters began turning on their fellow soldiers.

Changelings. Hundreds of changelings, all previously disguised now revealed their true form and began fighting. The buffalo came thundering down the hills, shaking the ground with their strength. The presence of the buffalo evened up the odds, but the changelings hadn't been the only trick.

The diamond dogs had been waiting underground, and now burst up and out. Some remained above and fought, others just grabbed soldiers from the army of the Two Sisters and pulled them into holes underground. This new threat was responded to by calling down the gryphons.

All the advantages the army of the Two Sisters had had before were now made obsolete. They were made even more so when the animals came out. It started with timber wolves, then big cats and bears, then chimeras and manticores.

No pony knew how Nightmare had been able to bend these creatures to her will, but even with them, the army of the Two Sisters held out. They were strong willed and powerful fighters when they needed to be. Then they were faced with something they hadn't been expecting.

It shouldn't have been that surprising, considering all the other beasts Nightmare had on her side. But in the end, when you see an ursa-major lumbering at you, shock is the only appropriate response. The same could be said for the hydra or the tatzlwurm.

The army of the Two Sisters continued to fight valiantly, despite it being a loosing battle. "We have to call a retreat." Heavy said, seeing the damage the monsters were doing. Shining hung his head, "Your right. Forgive me princess Celestia..." "Wait!"

The council turned around in surprise to see Spike running toward them. "Spike! What took you so long?" Shining asked. Spike shrugged. "It isn't easy convincing dragons to go to a battle."

As Spike spoke, the horde of dragons he'd led flew overhead onto the battlefield. There were only around thirty total, but thirty full sized dragons against one ursa-major, one hydra, and one tatzlwurm is are fairly decent odds.

Nightmare looked over the battle in disgust. It didn't really matter she supposed; if worst came to worst, she could fight herself, having reabsorbed her power from the star spiders.

Nightmare was contemplating a strategic sneak attack when she sudden got a sense that somepony was watching her. "Who dares to spy on the princess of the night!?" Nightmare demanded. To Nightmare's surprise, her words were meant with laughter.

"Oh sister, have you forgotten me already?" Nightmare froze in horror as bright sunlight filled her vision. "C-Celestia?!"

The princess of the day descended before nightmare. "H-How?" Nightmare stammered. "There are many more who do not kneel to darkness than you believe." Celestia said, stepping forward. "You have done terrible things this night, it's time you were sent back from whence you came."

Nightmare hissed, "No! I will not return to the moon! I will never go back!" Nightmare lashed out, releasing several waves of darkness. Each wave hit Celestia directly, but none had any effect. Celestia stepped closer and Nightmare stepped back, firing a blast of magic.

The blast hit directly, but again did nothing. "How is this possible?" Nightmare questioned. "Tis simple sister, I'm the distraction." Celestia said. The moment she said the words, Discord dropped the illusion and shot forward, catching Nightmare by surprise.

Discord knocked Nightmare back, where Fluttershy was waiting. Fluttershy, still using her anger to fight, knocked Nightmare into the sky. What followed was a sort of game of hot potato. Rainbow Dash caught Nightmare in a twister, which through her to the ground. Applejack was waiting on the ground to buck Nightmare towards Pinkie. Pinkie fired her party cannon.

Nightmare was able to catch her balance and fire a bolt of magic at Pinkie. Before the blast hit, a column crystal rose, wrapped in Rarity's magic. Before Nightmare could fire another attack, Twilight fired at her.

The attack did little other than annoy Nightmare, but in the instance that she was focused on Twilight, Discord trapped her. It took all of Discord's energy, but he managed to hold her. Discord looked Nightmare in the eyes, enjoying that he'd gotten the best of her.

"Now who's second rate?" He mocked, raising his hand to attack. "Discord." The draconiquis stopped at the trickster's voice. Discord briefly considered going for it anyway, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea. Fluttershy's new anger was out and about, and he couldn't well expected her to control it if he couldn't control his own.

Discord stepped back and Tom Foolery stepped forward. "What are you going to do?" Twilight asked him. "I'm going to let her talk to herself. If in the end, she disagrees with herself, then my hooves are tied." Tom said.

Twilight didn't quite understand, but that was to be expected with Tom. Tom stretched out his forelegs. "Let's see if I still know how to do this." He said, touching his hoof to Nightmare's horn. There was a flash, and Nightmare was unconscious.

She wasn't quite Nightmare Moon, but she wasn't quite Luna either. She lay on a floor she couldn't see in the darkness, her legs and wings bound by chains attacked to the moon, which bore the mare in the moon, above her.

"_I can't move. I can't feel my body. I don't remember, anything. What place is this? How did I get here? I don't understand, what's happening? Am I alone?"_

There was a second voice in the darkness, it seemed to come from the moon above, _"You've been deserted, everypony has left you. You know it's always been, that way. Those frantic times, the ponies you neglected, and now the time has come to pay. You are alone. Nopony's dancing to your tune."_

She hung her head in despair. Suddenly, she felt somepony grab onto her, and pull her way from the moon. The chains snapped, and she fell to the ground. She looked up to see three figures. Luna stood in front of her, smiling. Nightmare Moon stood to the left, sneering. And the trickster stood to the right, just watching.

"_Is this a dream, or is it real?" _She asked._"Some times a dream becomes reality." _Luna answered. _"But I don't know what to feel." "Then I shall guide you through this haze." "But who are you? Why are you here?" "I am you, and you are all of us." "I can't think, my mind isn't clear!" "Then I shall free you from this maze!"_

The trickster spoke loudly, like he was calling to her from far away. _"Can't you feel the light, deep down inside? Won't you ever learn, that you cannot hide? Can't you feel it shining, deep in your soul? A wounded mare's desire, gone out of control!"_

Nightmare spoke harshly, as though angered that she was listening to the other two. _"I can't believe that you'd give up! That's not your way! I can't believe that you'd pass up a chance to make them pay! You were in complete control! Why bother with wrong and right? You were calling the shots with a heart as black as night!"_

The three all confused her, and she tried to ignore them. _"You are delusions of my mind!" _Luna faced her again, _"And so we are, we're all apart of you." "Am I part of some design?" "The one design is in your head." "How can it be? You look so real?" "We are as real as you imagine us."_

She reached out, and to her surprise, she could feel Luna. _"I can touch you! I can feel!" _Luna smiled, _"Then take my hoof and follow me."_

She began to follow Luna, the trickster's words urged her on. _"Can't you feel the light, deep down inside? Won't you ever learn, that you cannot hide? Can't you feel it shining, deep in your soul? A wounded mare's desire, gone out of control!" _Nightmare hissed, and scolded her for following,_"I can't believe that you'd give up! That's not your way! I can't believe that you'd pass up a chance to make them pay! You were in complete control! Why bother with wrong and right? You were calling the shots with a heart as black as night!"_

All at once, all three of them vanished into the darkness; leaving her alone again. Except, she wasn't alone. _"Close your eyes, listen to your heart beat; hear its soothing pulse. Silence the cries, be gentle and carefree. Good or bad, true or false... your not alone."_

She looked up, and saw her sister, smiling at her. The council of friendship was there to. Even Discord and Tom were there.

"_You'll find us here, whenever they oppose you. We are the strongest together of all. No need to fear, the nightmares that enclose you; we'll be hear to catch you when you fall."_

They all started to fade, leaving her to choose for herself. Their voices echoed in the darkness, _"We are here, dancing to your tune..."_

Luna opened her eyes. Her sister stood above her, smiling down. Luna's eyes filled with tears and she jumped up to hug her sister, shrugging off the silver armor as she did so.

Luna stammered, trying to find the words to at least begin to apologize, but the words failed her. "It's okay Luna, we know."

Luna sniffled, "How-how did you escape the sun?" Celestia chuckled, "Befriending a trickster has it's perks."

"For example," Tom said, "if I recall, you were unable to destroy that infernal book of yours. I believe I could fix that."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "As you already know, tricksters can muster more power than ponies." The dark book flew from the compartment in Nightmare's armor and landed in Tom's hooves.

Tom looked at Luna, reconciling with her sister and the council. "Do the world a favor and throw out that reform spell, and be sure to warn Cadence that I'll be giving her a visit soon." With that, Tom vanished.

The battle of the Eclipse, as it would come to be known, had ended. The moment Nightmare had vanished, the shadow bolts disappeared and the spell she had on the bat-ponies and monsters wore off. Seeing this, the diamond dogs had scattered and left the few changelings and rebel ponies to be captured and tried.

Twilight still wasn't certain about the trickster's lessons. Had it really been wrong for them use the elements to reform Luna? Was Cadence's love spell wrong? Was the trickster really trying to teach them anything at all? Or was it just another trick? Twilight couldn't tell for sure, and had a feeling that Tom liked it that way.

Tom Foolery had waited for this night for far to long. He took out the three books he'd collected in the past generations and put them on the ground. Inspiration Manifestation, The book of Dark Crystals, and now, finally, the book of Nightmares.

Tom smiled sadly; he'd always dreamed of this night, and he'd always imagined he'd get to see the painted picture that appeared when he put the four books together, but Starswirl's last book had been neutralized by Twilight, and there was no reason to take it.

With the three books assembled on the ground, Tom held up his hoof and a small flame appeared. "It took me longer than I expected old friend, but I kept my promise." Tom said soft, wondering if, somehow, the old sorcerer could have heard him.

Tom dropped his hoof and the flame landed between the three books. The books caught and were engulfed in the trickster's magic fire. Tom looked over the embers of the wicked books, vile mistakes, finally destroyed after so long. With his mission finished, Tom, for the first time in his life, was left wondering, 'What now?'

**AN: Well, it seems this is my final update. I think I should start by acknowledging that the song is called 'Isolation'. It's an Adventure Time fan-project that I felt worked here nicely.**

**I'd like to give thanks to Dr. Wolf, who I stole no less than seven episode ideas from. I also borrowed ideas from the Rift Master himself, Voice of Reason. I want to thank anyone and everyone who left a review, they were some of the only things that kept me writing. A special thanks to Hi for leaving the first one, and inadvertently convincing me not to quit writing. Still to come: A prequel story about Prince Blueblood and his meeting the pony of shadows, a story about the new Mare Do Well (maybe a Justice League/Avengers thing with Daring Do and Time Turner?), and a story about Tom Foolery and his misadventures in playing tricks. All told, I guess there's nothing left to say. Thanks for reading, I hope I've made the off season just a little easier. So long. Role credits and fade to black! **


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